The Moon On Fire
by timeslayer
Summary: It's been three years since they got him back.Now the trio's past comes back to haunt them in the form of a strange girl with no identity. Feelings long hidden are forced out and threaten the hardest mission they've ever had!Pairings:read to find out!;
1. The New Mission

A/N: This story contains some spoilers! If you haven't gotten to at least chap 375 in the manga I suggest you do so or don't hate me for spoiling the fun! This first chapter is mainly to set things up so bear with me it gets much better I promise!  It's my first Naruto fic so reviews are requested and welcomed whether they be kudos, suggestions or criticisms; just no flames please if you hate it that much just don't read it! As for pairings…I just haven't decided who's going to end up with who yet so don't ask!  Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

The New Mission

When Sasuke awoke that morning and looked out the window across from his bed, rays of bright sunlight washed across him. But he did not feel their warmth. He did not see the clear blue sky or hear the chirp of the birds that landed on the windowsill. Not that he paid too much attention to any of these things on a daily basis anyway but this morning especially, he was too focused on the heavy feeling that had come over his heart.

"Something isn't right." He thought with a scowl on his face. He had never been one to believe in ESP or silly things like that but he believed in his own intuition and it was practically screaming danger and chaos at him. He scowled harder at the beautiful day outside, as if he was daring it to shed its pretense of light and beauty and show him what horrors it had waiting for him. But the blue sky and singing birds mocked him; they would not give up the secret. He stayed that way, frowning intently for several minutes, trying to pinpoint the source of the awful feeling that made his stomach turn like nothing had for a long time but he finally gave up when the alarm clock beside his bed came alive with loud, shrill beeps that drilled into the headache he hadn't known until that moment that he had. He silenced the alarm clock with a little more force than was necessary and stalked to the washroom to change.

XXX

"Alright, where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's tone of annoyance hid her worry. Team Kakashi was leaving on a mission this morning and they were to have assembled at the front gate at 6:30 sharp. It was now closer to 7:30 and even Kakashi had shown up. Which made Sakura worry even more. Sasuke was never late to begin with but no one was ever later than Kakashi!

"Teme! What the hell is he doing to make us wait like this?" Naruto growled from where he was leaning on the wall by the edge of the great gates playing somewhat carelessly with a shuriken. Unlike Sakura, Naruto's annoyed tone wasn't hiding worry, he was just annoyed.

Kakashi didn't say anything, his face was characteristically stoic as he leaned against the other side of the great gate wall, reading one of the many issues of his favourite perverted novel series. One would think him a statue if not for the occasional turning of a page or sudden blush that would appear on the part of his face that wasn't covered by his tell-tale mask when he hit an especially 'good' part. Naruto and Sakura exchanged deadpanned looks with each other before glaring at their sensei. But either Kakashi was too involved with his book or he was just ignoring his teammates. Either way, Naruto and Sakura's frustration rose with each passing second until Sakura couldn't take it anymore.

"That's it! This isn't like him. I'm going to find him."

"Bah! Leave the baka be Sakura-chan. He's a big boy, he can find his way here on his own." This time Naruto's annoyed tone was hiding something as he saw Sakura glare at him. He looked away from her gaze, his attention completely leaving the shuriken and he didn't notice when he grasped it hard it the wrong way and it drew blood from his thumb. He knew Sakura loved Sasuke. She'd even been the president of the Sasuke fan-club, back when they had all been green little genin. And that had been a long time ago.

It had been three years since they had brought Sasuke back to Konoha barely alive after facing off against and still failing to defeat his older brother Itachi. Naruto remembered how passionate he and Sakura were about bringing their friend home again and how close they had become during the search. She had spoken to him more kindly and he'd noticed a different, softer look in her eyes when she looked at him. Naruto had even begun to entertain the idea that if he saved Sasuke, then Sakura would finally see him the way he wanted her to. But she'd reverted right back to "Sasuke fan-club" mode when he'd been found and she'd been harping after him ever since. Leaving Naruto right back where he started. At the wrong end of a truly strange love triangle.

"Sasuke-kun isn't you Naruto. He's never been this late before and I'm starting to get worried."

"The hell Sakura-chan! I'm not late either! I was right on time this morning!"

"Oh yeah? What about the other day when you were supposed to meet us for lunch and you kept us waiting for twenty minutes?"

"I ran into Shino and he insisted on telling me why bugs were better than dogs cuz he'd just gotten into a stupid fight with Kiba! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get away from Shino when he starts ranting about bugs?"

"About as difficult as it is to get away from you when you start talking about ramen." A smug voice suddenly sounded from above the two squabbling ninja.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura practically squealed as her favourite raven-haired ninja landed in between her and Naruto.

Sasuke looked from Naruto's scowl to Sakura's heart-filled eyes and had a pretty good idea what he'd just missed. He shook his head and turned to Kakashi. "So where are we headed?"

For the first time, Kakashi looked up. He saw his team was finally assembled and reluctantly put his book back into his pouch. He gave no indication whatsoever that he knew Sakura and Naruto had been fighting. "Our mission is taking us to the Village Hidden in the Sand."

The scowl disappeared off of Naruto's face in a flash. "The Hidden Sand village? You mean we're going to get to see Gaara, Temari and Kankurou again? That's awesome! It's been so long!"

" We're not going for tea Naruto." Sakura chastised him. "What is our mission there Kakashi-sensei?"

"Information." Kakashi said simply but he was staring hard at Sasuke when he said it. Sasuke didn't miss the hint.

"Itachi?" The word was both a question and a curse coming from Sasuke's suddenly dry mouth. He hadn't heard hide nor hair of his older brother in the three years he'd been back in Konoha. Of course he'd left Itachi in no better shape than he himself had been in after their battle. But like him, Itachi had managed to survive and now it seemed he was on the move again. Sasuke felt the rage bubbling just underneath his skin and forced back a wince at the sudden pain behind his left shoulder.

Naruto's insistence on chasing after Sasuke when he abandoned everyone and everything he'd ever known eventually made Sasuke realize how wrong he'd been and where true power comes from. His brother had told him to hate and become merciless, only then could he hope to defeat him. Stupidly, Sasuke had listened and had played right into his brother's hands. He broke all bonds with his friends (or so he thought) and willed his heart to become cold as stone. As cold as his brother's. But it hadn't worked. After all the time he'd spent with Orochimaru and even with the power of the damned curse mark Sasuke had become an even more formidable fighter. But he hadn't been able to turn his heart to stone. He had rarely killed and try as he might, he couldn't forget his friends completely. Even when attacking his friends he had been unable to kill them. He told himself that he didn't want to give Itachi the satisfaction of knowing Sasuke had done what he had said. But in reality, he just couldn't bring himself to end the lives of the only people who'd ever given him the feeling that he might be able to live a somewhat happy life. He had considered his feelings for his friends to be his weakness, a barrier to his gaining the ultimate power and so something to be shoved aside and eliminated. And so he had. But he had learned too late exactly why Itachi had left him alive all those years ago. He had intended for Sasuke to live and grow powerful not so he would be able to defeat his older brother, but so that he would gain the Mangekyou Sharingan. Itachi wanted this more than anything because his own Mangekyou Sharingan was causing irreversible damage to his eyes and he intended to take Sasuke's eyes and eliminate the blindness which was his fate! Sasuke had barely escaped with his eyes and life intact and after waking up in Konoha he realized what an utter fool he'd been. He'd left everything behind for what he had believed was a righteous cause but what had actually just been an elaborate trap set by his brother. Fortunately his friend's hearts held nothing but forgiveness for him, even after everything he'd put them through. And finally Sasuke, although still fully intending to one day defeat his brother, had learned that physical strength only got one so far. True strength came from having friends who believed in you and something (other than revenge) to fight for. He had let go of some of the darkness in his heart and accepted his friends help. It was that acceptance that allowed him to remain calm now at Kakashi's words. If he was to face Itachi again, he knew now that his friends would be by his side. And instead of getting in the way and making him seem weak, he knew they would be his strength. And this time…surely this time…

"He was there?" Sasuke croaked out still staring at Kakashi.

"Apparently he was there four days ago." Kakashi answered back not taking his eyes off Sasuke. Neither Sakura nor Naruto had spoken. They both knew what this meant to their friend. Sakura saw Naruto take a step closer to Sasuke without even seeming to think about it and she hid a smile. Naruto had been rather protective of Sasuke since he'd been back, even though it annoyed the hell out of Sasuke. But Sakura couldn't blame Naruto after what he'd been through. She actually understood completely, as she herself had felt rather protective of Naruto during their all-consuming search for Sasuke. She understood Naruto's feelings and she loved him for it. She took a step closer to Sasuke as well.

"Just four days? Where did he go?" Sasuke could hear his voice rising as anticipation flooded him.

"No one knows I'm afraid." Kakashi said with a sympathetic look. "He disappeared as quickly as he came."

"They knew a member of the former Akatsuki was there and they didn't bother trying to capture him? After what that organization did to their Kazekage?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"They were too busy with what he left behind to follow him." Kakashi said darkly.

"Left behind?" Naruto finally spoke up incensed. He was definitely no fan of Itachi's after what he'd done to Sasuke but the incident with Gaara and the Akatsuki had sealed his hatred even more. He himself had barely escaped Gaara's fate at the hands of Itachi and the other members before the organization was finally brought down. And now Itachi dared show his face in the village of sand? "What has he done?"

"The details are sketchy at best right now, we'll know more when we reach the village." Kakashi turned his attention to Naruto, seeming to notice him there for the first time. "But from what the Godaime heard from the Kazekage, it seems he was working late when he heard noise coming from the roof. He investigated only to find Itachi on the roof standing over an unconscious, unknown girl. When Itachi realized he'd been discovered, he fled leaving the girl behind. She is actually a large part of the reason team Kakashi has been dispatched."

"Who is the girl Kakashi-sensei?" came from Sakura.

"They've not been able to determine that yet Sakura. It seems the girl is trapped in a genjutsu and non of the medical Nins there have been able to break her out of it." A look of comprehension dawned in all of their eyes and both Naruto and Sasuke looked at Sakura. If anyone could break a genjutsu, it would be her.

"Okay so I get why they want Sakura but we're going after Itachi right?" Sasuke demanded more than questioned. Beside him, Naruto nodded in agreement.

"After where?" Kakashi asked. "I told you, no one knows where he went. Gaara's first concern was for the girl's health, which obviously wasn't great at the time and still isn't now." Before Sasuke and Naruto could start he continued. "But don't worry. Once we get to the sand village I'm sure we'll have more information. Sakura can break the genjutsu and we can question the girl. She may be able to tell us much. So if there are no more questions…." He said this last in a tone that said there would be no more questions. "It's three days to the sand village. I suggest we head out." And with that, he turned around and walked through the gates.

Sakura looked at Sasuke who was absentmindedly rubbing a spot over his left shoulder but she followed Kakashi and gave Naruto a look that said to do the same. Naruto looked at Sasuke and growled low, "Don't worry, we'll find him." And then he took off after Sakura. Sasuke watched Naruto for a moment and then smiled grimly to himself. It seemed his intuition had been right this morning.

XXX

They stopped on the precipice of a cliff for the first night. The four teammates sat around the fire deep in their own thoughts.

Kakashi watched his students/teammates for a while before realizing they were just fine sulking by themselves. He turned his attention to his book but continued to covertly observe the chuunins under his supervision. Finding and successfully retrieving Sasuke from his self-induced darkness had come as a great relief to Kakashi who had been worried about his former student. He'd worried about all of them actually, but most especially Naruto for he knew how hard Sasuke's actions were on him.

"Frankly," Kakashi thought to himself, losing all focus on his book. "I'm surprised Naruto was able to forgive Sasuke so easily. After all, he did almost kill him twice. That does tend to put a strain on a friendship. But then again, I've underestimated Naruto several times. And Naruto sees something in Sasuke that the rest of us were never able to. The people in the village always saw Sasuke as the genius rookie from the Uchiha clan who would turn out to be Konoha's greatest asset. It's what I always saw him as. But Naruto saw someone different. He didn't just see the last surviving member of one of the village's oldest clans. He saw the lonely and hurting boy that he was, reflected back at him in Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke are more alike than either of them will ever admit. It really is no wonder that the biggest loser and biggest genius of their class became the best of friends." Kakashi brought his attention to his book again as one last thought flew across his mind. "I'm so proud of all of them."

Naruto was thinking about Gaara. It had been over 4 years since he'd last seen him after rescuing him from Akatsuki's grasp. He and Gaara had shaken hands then. A normal sign for respect and goodbye for anybody but coming from Gaara it was practically a miracle. It had meant the world to Naruto. Their bond as Jinchuuriki and as friends was sealed and Naruto realized he was excited to see Gaara again. "I wonder how he's been doing all this time? I didn't hear much from him after we defeated Akatsuki, but he was probably still bitter they managed to get his bijuu from him." he thought ruefully. He brought his attention back to the fire lighted camp reality only to realize that he'd been staring the whole time at Sakura who had been staring the whole time out of the corner of her eye at Sasuke. Naruto sighed, rolled his eyes and stared into the fire.

He couldn't say that he was beginning to get tired of watching Sakura chase after Sasuke and ignore him, it'd been going on far too long for that. He'd loved Sakura since…well…since before he could remember really. But even though Sasuke still showed no interest in Sakura beyond friendship, she still continued to delude herself into hoping that he would one day change his mind. No, he wasn't beginning to get tired of it, he was damned tired of it. Enough so that he'd found himself thinking how bad would it really be if he finally gave up and moved on. The more time passed, the harder a time he was having convincing himself to remain concentrated on his obviously one-sided love. That's not to say that it still didn't break his heart. But he couldn't help the way he felt. And he wasn't sure he wanted to either. He shifted into a more comfortable position and allowed the dancing fire to seduce his mind away from Sakura and his pain once more.

Sakura was worried about Sasuke. He hadn't changed much since his return to Konoha but he'd been even more sullen than usual today. "Not that I blame him." Inner Sakura stated logically. "It's been three years and suddenly we're off to get information that could once again lead us to Itachi. Sasuke must be feeling upset and nervous. I wish I knew what to say to him to make him feel better. I wish I knew how to say the things I've wanted to for so long. I know I've been acting like a lovesick little teenager again lately. I can't help but think I'm making up for lost time." But inside she knew that wasn't it. She couldn't explain why she felt so out of control when Sasuke was around. "You think I'd be able to just come out and say it considering how easily I confessed to him the night he left to join Orochimaru. But for some reason, I just can't bring myself to tell him I love him. Of course it doesn't help that Naruto is still constantly butting in at the opportune moments." Sakura looked at her blonde friend and stifled a small gasp. Naruto was looking into the fire and his eyes were sorrowful and deep. The firelight reflected in them could have been coming from within him. She didn't understand why, but her heart hurt at the expression on his face. It wasn't like him. Just before her concern could move her to action however, she convinced herself that Naruto was fine. "He's always fine. Nothing ever gets him down for long." She ignored any feelings to the contrary and resumed her stare-a-thon at Sasuke.

Sasuke was thinking about Gaara too but not in the same way as Naruto. The last time he had seen Gaara, the sand Jinchuuriki had almost killed them all. Granted that had been a long time ago and Naruto had delighted in telling Sasuke how Gaara had changed, become Kazekage and that they were great friends now. But Sasuke could think only of how Gaara would receive him. After all, he hadn't had the chance to know the 'new' Gaara so the upcoming reunion troubled him somewhat. He was also preoccupied with the heaviness that still smothered his mind and heart. The news about Itachi had worsened his troubled heart considerably. Especially since there was something bothering him about what Kakashi had said concerning how fast Itachi had disappeared. Had it been because of his eyes? It had been almost three years since he had returned to the leaf village, and Itachi himself had admitted his eyesight would not last much longer when they fought. Had he found another way to reverse the Mangekyou Sharingan's detrimental effects? And if not could he even see anymore? He had a very good idea that he would get those answers when they reached the sand village but that only served to trouble him even more. Fortunately (or unfortunately he couldn't decide) those thoughts were constantly being interrupted by the knowledge that Sakura was sitting not four feet away from him and she kept staring at him. It was making him uncomfortable. Especially since he knew what Naruto felt for her. And what he didn't feel for her.

Sasuke loved Naruto like a brother. He'd been more like a brother to Sasuke than Itachi had ever been. And he loved Sakura like a sister….but that's where it ended. He had thought about Sakura almost as much as Naruto when he'd been away and his longing to see her had been something he tried his best to bury down in the depths of his heart. But he couldn't give Sakura what she wanted. The worst part about it was that he found he couldn't tell her so. Most of it was that he didn't want to hurt her. He had sworn to himself that he would never hurt his friends again. But there was another part, the Sasuke from before he had left the village, the one that was Naruto's rival in all things as well as his best friend, that enjoyed receiving the attention that Naruto didn't get. He had spent so long being jealous of Naruto. Envious of how quickly Naruto seemed to gain strength while his own growth took so much longer. He had yet to admit it to anyone but that was one of the main reasons he left the hidden leaf village in the first place. If he couldn't defeat Naruto then how could he hope to defeat his brother? Of course he hadn't known then about the immense power that was housed inside Naruto but even if he had, it probably wouldn't have lessened his jealous feelings. It was probably the highest compliment he could give Naruto, but he knew Naruto would hate him for it. So it was a secret he would take to the grave with him. He looked at his best friend and saw the same expression Sakura had seen. Sasuke felt for Naruto. He had never been in love himself so he couldn't know how Naruto was hurting knowing that the woman he loved was in love with someone else. He sighed deeply and stretched. His shoulder had been bothering him most of the day. Not that he hadn't been expecting it; the curse mark, although sealed once and for all by the skill of the Godaime and his own will power, still liked to make its presence known whenever he got really angry. A love bite from Orochimaru that he would never rely on again, not even to save his friend's lives. He would never break that promise. He looked from the corner of his eye to Sakura again and decided to end the stare-fest. He stood up without a word and walked a little ways away from the warm fire to his cold, waiting sleeping bag. He climbed in and lay awake listening to the crackle of the fire, and willing his sense of foreboding to go away. It didn't listen. Sasuke did not sleep that night.

The next two days passed rather uneventfully other than the fact that the three younger teammates seemed far more tired than usual. None of them was willing to admit to the real reason why however and by the middle of the third day, they were within sight of the Village Hidden in the Sand. Or rather they were in sight of the large stepped wall that bordered the front of the village until it turned into a natural mountain range that protected the rear. The village could only be accessed by a narrow opening in the front wall that was several metres long and guarded heavily, especially near the top after having been penetrated from the sky so easily by the former Akatsuki member, Deidara.

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, energy suddenly returning to him. "It's been so long! I can't wait to see everyone again!"

"Remember why we're here Naruto." Sakura lectured. Naruto shot her a nasty look that made her look back at him in shock. Then he turned away and started walking faster, kicking up a good foot of sand in the process. Sakura looked at Sasuke questioningly but he had suddenly become interested in an unusually shaped sand dune and avoided her gaze. She looked back to Naruto frowning. "What's his problem today?" She thought.

They were about 500 yards away from the village entrance when they spotted a dark figure sprinting towards them. Sasuke immediately took an attack stance until he heard Naruto cry out, "Hey it's Kankurou!"

Sensing the sand shinobi's urgency, the team quickened their pace and reached him within seconds. "Kankurou!" Naruto said happily. "It's great to see you again!"

"Naruto-kun. Sakura-san. I'm so glad you made it." Kankurou said quickly. "You must come quickly. The girl is in danger. She won't last much longer."

The group looked at him in shock. "But the letter said she was only in a genjutsu! Her body should be in no danger!" Sakura said. "Unless…." The look on Kankurou's face gave her the answer. "Take me to her right away." And without another word she leapt off after Kankurou, leaving the other's standing dumbfounded.

"Um…what just happened?" Naruto asked.

"Itachi." Sasuke muttered under his breath. "I don't know how but that bastard was able to use the Mangekyou Sharingan on the girl. The genjutsu she's in is probably tearing her apart." He cursed intelligibly and leapt off after Sakura.

Naruto looked at Kakashi with a face that said he still didn't know what was going on. Kakashi sighed, realizing he'd have to explain. "The Mangekyou Sharingan is special Naruto I know you know that. The genjutsu it produces can cause a person's mind such realistic pain that the body reacts as though it's actually being harmed. This girl is obviously no ninja or she would have been able to guard her mind against that much damage. I'm surprised though. From what Sasuke said after his battle with his brother, Itachi should have lost the ability to use the Mangekyou Sharingan by now." He looked towards the village uncertainly. "Let's go Naruto." And he leapt off, Naruto close behind.

XXX

When Sakura arrived in the room the girl was being kept in, the sight that met her eyes was horrible! The unknown girl was lying on a hospital bed and she was bleeding from several different wounds that had opened up on her body. And as Sakura watched horrified, more cuts opened up on her arms and legs though no one had physically done anything to her. She was crying through closed eyes and whimpering in what was obviously terrible pain. Occasionally her mouth would open wide as though she was trying to scream but no sound escaped her. Gaara sat on a chair beside her bed, seemingly oblivious to everything around him, his hands making seals at an incredible speed. Sakura recognized his muttered words as a release jutsu. She had a second to wonder why the Kazekage was doing that instead of the medical ninja's.

"Gaara's been at that for a couple of days now." Kankurou quickly explained. "He keeps trying to dispel the jutsu, hoping a weak spot will present itself and she'll snap out of it."

"Why didn't you say how serious it was in the letter?" Sakura demanded. She wanted to look fierce to Kankurou but she could not take her eyes off the girl. "I could have been here sooner!"

"She wasn't this bad until two days ago. We could tell it was a bad genjutsu or our medical Nin's could have broken it themselves. We saw small cuts and bruises start but the medics just bandaged them as they showed up while we got hold of you. But she didn't start crying or bleeding like that until a few days ago." Kankurou looked visibly shaken.

Sakura wanted to ask what had happened two days ago and why they had only bandaged the girl's wounds instead of healing them but the girl suddenly gave a loud yelp as a large gash appeared and ran down the front of her from her right shoulder to her left hip. Blood flowed freely and Gaara jumped back in surprise and shock. Sakura rushed forward, made the sign of the Tiger and practically screamed "KAI!" at the same time she struck the girl with her fingers on her forehead.

Everything went eerily still. The girl had stopped crying and she also wasn't moving. The blood still flowed from her wounds however. Sakura immediately set to work healing the gash with her medical jutsu. Her hands glowed a cool green as she slowly knit the girl's broken skin back together. She was still hard at work when Sasuke arrived in the room. He immediately recoiled at the sight.

"My God what has he done?" He whispered disgusted. Kankurou and Gaara turned their attention to him and it took Kankurou a second to come up with a name.

"Uchiha Sasuke." It was Gaara who actually said the name and he just stared at Sasuke, his face reading no emotion whatsoever. But Sasuke could feel it. Gaara was not happy to see him.

The awkward silence was broken by the arrival of Naruto and Kakashi. Both wore looks of shock and disgust at the scene before them.

"Holy man it looks like someone was tortured in here!" Naruto yelled before receiving a whack on the back of the head from Kakashi.

"That's exactly what's happened you knucklehead. Now be quiet. Now that Sakura has dispelled the jutsu, the girl may be able to hear you."

"Actually no, she's unconscious at the moment." Sakura said quickly without looking up from her work. She had healed the large gash although she seemed to be having a hard time of it and was beginning to breath hard from the use of her chakra. "But I still need you to clear out of here while I work. This is turning out to be more work than I thought. I will need two able medical Nin's here right away to help." She paused as she noticed a rather large bloodstain lower on the girl's body. She felt her stomach drop and added, "Preferably female." She said the last to Gaara who nodded in grim understanding and passed the others to walk out of the room. He paused at the entrance and said,

"Kankurou, see to the medics. The rest of you, please come with me." And he continued off down the hall. Naruto looked back at Sakura one more time but she was intent on her task. He followed Kakashi and Sasuke down the hall after Gaara.

XXX

Gaara's office was round with several pictures on the walls of past Kazekages including his own father. The only furniture was a desk and a few chairs but it still managed a warm and inviting atmosphere. Upon entering, Naruto once again thought it almost nicer than the Godaime's office back home. Tsunade's office was better decorated but the only atmosphere felt in there was frightening.

Once they were seated in the Kazekage's office, Naruto took a good look at his friend. If possible, Gaara looked even more pale than usual. And even though his face still registered no emotion, Naruto could swear he saw Gaara's hands shaking the slightest bit.

"Gaara what the hell has been happening here?" Naruto asked in a very uncharacteristically quiet voice.

Gaara did not answer for several seconds. His gaze was fixed on Sasuke and Sasuke's gaze was in turn fixed on Gaara. Sasuke was determined not to show any unease to his former enemy. When Gaara finally did speak, he looked at Naruto and Kakashi and totally ignored Sasuke.

"The way I found the girl happened just as I wrote in the letter requesting Sakura-san's assistance from Konoha."

"Do you know where Itachi went?" Sasuke blurted out before he could stop himself. Gaara did not turn away from Naruto and Kakashi but his eyes moved to Sasuke with a look of pure malevolence, daring him to interrupt again. Sasuke gritted his teeth but remained silent.

"During the first couple of days, the medics noticed small bruises and cuts appearing on the girl's body and were perplexed by it but we healed her as best we could and we waited for your team to arrive. Two days ago however, something strange happened." Gaara paused there and Naruto was surprised to see that Gaara appeared to be having a hard time relating the story. Whatever had happened, it must have been horrific for it to upset Gaara.

"A medic went into the room to check on the girl that morning and he swears he saw Uchiha Itachi standing in the room by the bed."

"He was here again? And you didn't capture him?" Sasuke knew he was pushing his luck now but he just couldn't believe the great Sand Village would let a known 'S' class criminal escape not just once but twice! Kakashi gave Sasuke a warning look but Naruto looked interested in the answer as well. Gaara looked from Sasuke to Naruto and sighed in resignation.

"We have determined that Uchiha Itachi was only in the sand village for a brief period the night I saw him. What the medic saw was the Uchiha's second self. A projection of his chakra not unlike Naruto's Kage Bunshin although this projection was not solid. The medic could see through the Uchiha in the hospital room and his attempts to incapacitate or otherwise capture him were unsuccessful. There was nothing the medic could do to stop the Uchiha's assault on the girl."

"Yeah I know that form." Naruto said suddenly. "When I was being held by the Akatsuki and they were getting ready to take the kyuubi from me, there were only two members actually there, the rest showed up in a shadowy sort of 'TV reception gone bad' form."

Gaara nodded in affirmation.

"He came back in that form to do further harm to the girl? Why on earth would he do that?" Kakashi said aloud but it seemed as though he was saying it more to himself than anything.

"What did he do Gaara?" Naruto asked although he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"We are not 100% sure but we believe he worsened the genjutsu she was under by using the Mangekyou Sharingan. The medic reports that the Uchiha was focused on the girl intently and making hand seals so quickly he could not see what they where. Then all of a sudden the girl jerked on the bed as though she had been shocked and coughed up a large amount of blood. The medic looked to the girl for only a second but when he looked back, the Uchiha was gone. The girl continued to worsen rapidly after that. Larger cuts and bruises appeared and it's as though she's bleeding from somewhere new every minute."

"That's not even the worst or weirdest of it."

The group turned to see Sakura in the doorway being supported by Kankurou. She looked exhausted!

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay?" Naruto rushed to the door to take Sakura's arm and lead her to a chair.

"Was the girl hurt that badly Sakura?" Kakashi asked eyeing her condition.

Sakura just looked at Gaara. "You knew didn't you? That's why you were having such a hard time healing her." Gaara looked at Sakura for a moment and slowly nodded.

"That is why we felt we needed you Sakura-san." Kankurou said from where he still stood by the door. "We've never seen anything like this before and you're the single most talented medical shinobi in the five great countries other than the Godaime. If anyone can figure this out I'm sure it's you." Kankurou said this last with true respect in his voice. He hadn't forgotten how Sakura had saved him from a deadly poison 4 years ago when the medics in his village were stumped and about to let him die.

"Um…are we missing something here?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This girl Kakashi-sensei. It took a LOT of my chakra to break the genjutsu and it wasn't just because it was caused by the Mangekyou Sharingan. I noticed that it was taking a lot more effort than usual to heal her wounds as well. Then when I tried focusing on her internal organs, I discovered why. I don't know who this girl is or where she's from…but she doesn't have an ounce of chakra in her! Not one single speck!"


	2. Troubled Reunion

A/N: I should have mentioned earlier that this story takes plot points from both the anime and the manga. And naturally I have twisted those points to satisfy my own evil desires. :) I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with it though it'd be really cool if I did.....

Chapter 2

Troubled Reunion

"No chakra?" Naruto asked obviously confused.

"But that's not possible!" Kakashi said, his eyes betraying his normally cool exterior. "All living things possess chakra, even if they aren't capable of using it the way shinobi can. Life itself isn't possible without it! Are you absolutely sure Sakura?"

Sakura looked at him with daggers for questioning her but she responded calmly. "Yes I'm absolutely sure Kakashi-sensei. You can check her out with your Sharingan if you want. You should be able to see it…or rather, not see it. I don't know how to explain it but she's lying there, breathing and alive, but with no chakra at all. That's why it took so much out of me to heal her."

"Yeah I guess so." Sasuke spoke up but in truth, he wasn't paying all that much attention. All he could think about was how Gaara kept calling Itachi 'The Uchiha'. Like it was the name of some unspeakable bug. And while that shouldn't have bothered Sasuke seeing as he saw his brother in pretty much the same way, the tone with which Gaara said it was obviously intended to lump Sasuke under that same opinion. And he didn't appreciate that one bit.

"Not to mention that she shouldn't have been in a genjutsu at all without chakra." Kakashi said thoughtfully. Everyone looked at him surprised as they digested his words.

"You're right Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said sitting up straight. "Genjutsu is something that works on the opponents five senses by controlling the chakra flowing through and linking their cranial nerves. So how did he do it then? And so severely?"

"I don't know." Sasuke answered being brought out of his thoughts by Kakashi's revelation. "It could be because it was the Mangekyou Sharingan but I've never met anyone without chakra (cuz they shouldn't exist) much less tried to put them in a genjutsu so I have no clue how or why it would work."

"Wait." Naruto interrupted. "What does the girl not having chakra have to do with you being so out of it from healing her?"

"Naruto, you really are clueless aren't you?" Sakura sighed in exasperation. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke could swear he saw Gaara hiding a small grin. "You know I use my chakra to heal people but that's only half of it. I actually use my chakra to manipulate the patient's chakra to cause the individual cells to repair and heal themselves. Seeing as this girl has no chakra that I can see, all of the effort was on mine and the other nin's parts. And seeing how badly she was injured…" Sakura looked away suddenly as though the mere thought disturbed her to her core.

"How badly was she injured Sakura-san?" Gaara finally spoke up.

"The bleeding has been stopped and most of the external damage has been dealt with but…that other part…" She looked at Gaara seriously. Naruto was surprised when Gaara suddenly hit the table with his fist.

"What other part Sakura?" Kakashi asked cautiously.

"I don't know what he made her see but while she was under this genjutsu, she was being beaten and raped. Violently and repeatedly. The injuries to her internal organs are extensive. Her lungs were almost crushed and…" She paused and whitened visibly. "She'll likely have a hard time breathing properly for a while. I did the best I could but in truth, Tsunade-sama's probably the only one who could heal her completely." Sakura's eyes looked positively haunted by what she had seen.

Sasuke's attention was fully on Sakura now. "Itachi made her believe she was being raped? Repeatedly?" Sasuke felt sick and his sense of foreboding was tightening itself around his throat, making it hard to breath. What had his brother done? And for God's sake, why? He looked up when he felt Gaara's eyes on him. The malevolence in them was unmistakable. And he suddenly understood. Gaara was blaming him for what happened. He hadn't been able to kill Itachi who now was unleashing untold horrors on an innocent girl. Sasuke was angry but almost more than that, he was surprised that Gaara should care so much about some stranger. "Naruto was right." He thought. "Gaara has changed."

"That's horrible." Naruto said through clenched teeth. "How could he do something so despicable to an innocent girl? What the hell could he have been trying to prove? Is she awake Sakura?"

"Not yet. The genjutsu took a lot out of her. She'll likely sleep for a day or more."

"Then we have time to investigate." Kakashi said standing up. "With your permission Kazekage-sama, we'd like to look around the area where you saw Uchiha Itachi and around the village for any clues as to where he would have gone or his intentions."

"The shinobi team I assigned to the task were not able to find anything of use and evidence doesn't have a habit of staying put for very long here with the sand storms but you are free to search wherever you need to." Gaara replied also standing up. Sasuke and Naruto did the same.

"Oh and I'll also ask you to please take care of the girl for a while longer. When she is awake and able to move, we'll take her back to Konoha with us to be treated by the Hokage. Then we'll get her home."

"This girl was brutally and mercilessly attacked within the vicinity of this village and by one of our most hated enemies. She has the full protection and care from the sand village as long as she's here."

"I knew we could count on you Gaara." Naruto smiled at his friend but his eyes were haunted by what he had learned. Gaara nodded and the team turned to leave the room.

Sasuke made to leave but turned to Gaara one more time. "One more question Gaara. Did you happen to see Itachi's eyes when you found him on the roof?"

Gaara looked at him for a moment but answered, "No I'm afraid not. As soon as he saw me he disappeared. I did not have time to take notice of his eyes." Sasuke nodded and turned to leave.

"Sakura perhaps you should get some rest for now. We can search around just fine ourselves." Kakashi said, noticing how hard a time Sakura was having keeping her eyes open.

"I'll take her to where you'll be staying while you're here. And I'll alert all of you if the girl wakes up." Kankurou looked at Sakura who nodded tiredly and followed him out the door. Kakashi and Sasuke followed and Naruto made to leave as well when Gaara spoke up.

"Naruto."

"Yeah Gaara?"

"What the Uchiha did….it's unforgivable." Murderous rage that hadn't been seen in Gaara in a long time suddenly flared in his eyes.

"Gaara." Naruto was worried about Gaara. He'd never seen him so upset, and especially over a stranger. He spoke seriously. "Don't worry. He will NOT get away with it." He turned to leave when Gaara interrupted him again.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"It's…….good to see you again."

This time Naruto's smile was bright. "It's good to see you again too Gaara. I'm glad to see you've got this whole Kazekage thing still under control. Makes me feel better about it when I'll have to do it back home." He chuckled and left the room. Gaara watched him go and allowed a small smile to escape his otherwise stoic demeanor. He believed in Naruto and knew now that he was involved, things would eventually work out. Gaara sighed and set off back to the hospital to check on the girl.

As he approached the room he heard yelling and broke into a run. When he reached the doorway he was shocked the see that the girl was already awake and by the looks of it she'd tried to run. The medical ninjas had restrained her on the bed but that was having an even worse effect. She was struggling against her bonds and she was near hysterical.

"What are you doing? Release her!" He yelled as he ran into the room.

"Kazekage-sama!" One of the medical ninja's stepped away from the bed. "The girl awoke and started ripping the IV's out of herself. We restrained her so she wouldn't harm herself."

"You know what happened to her and you do this? Can't you see what this is doing to her?" He rushed forward and ripped the bonds loose. The girl sat up with such force that she fell out of the bed but Gaara caught her and held her tightly enough so that she could not escape but gently so that she could still move. The girl fought Gaara for only a moment before collapsing against him, crying.

"Where am I? What is going on?" She cried into Gaara's shoulder. Her breath was indeed hitching shallowly and Gaara understood that Sakura had not been able to heal her completely. He said nothing but continued to hold her until her crying subsided. When she had calmed down enough that he could be sure she wouldn't try to run, he gently released her. She sat still on the floor with her hands over her face slowly trying to bring herself under control. Slowly her breathing eased but it was still shallow. Keeping one hand on her shoulder Gaara addressed the medical ninja's.

"Get Temari. She can keep an eye on the girl until Sakura-san has had a chance to rest. Also, find Naruto and the others. They will want to know she's awake."

"Yes Kazekage-sama." Both medics answered and in an instant they disappeared, leaving Gaara alone with the girl. He knelt down and gently pried her hands away from her face. Terrified brown eyes looked up at him. Gaara could feel the terror coming off of her in waves and while it used to be that this would have awakened his blood lust and pleased him to no end, now it was breaking his heart. Even Naruto would have been surprised at this reaction but even Naruto had underestimated just how much Gaara had changed. Once he delighted in causing terror and pain, now he worked hard to protect everyone important to him from being hurt. And even though he had no idea who this girl was, knowing what had happened to her and seeing her like this made him want to protect her even more. The difference in him was night and day but unlike anything else in his life, it made Gaara happy. It was all thanks to Naruto and he thought about what Naruto would do and say as he faced the girl and tried to convince her to calm down.

"You should return to bed. We have healed your wounds as much as possible but your lungs are still injured. If you move too much right now you may hurt yourself again." He held out his hand to help her up.

She seemed to consider him for a moment but her tear-filled eyes looked him straight in his own as she took his hand and allowed him to help her back to the bed. Once she was sitting comfortably she asked quietly. "Who are you?"

"I am Gaara."

She looked at him uncertainly. "Uh huh. And where am I?"

"You are in the hospital in the Village Hidden in the Sand."

"The Village where?"

"The Hidden Sand village. We are the shinobi village of the Wind country." Gaara raised an eyebrow at the confused look on the girl's face. "You have not heard of the Village Hidden in the Sand?"

"I haven't heard of the Wind Country." The girl replied and Gaara's eyes widened in surprise.

"What is your name?"

"My name….my name…" Her eyes grew round and fearful as she answered. "I don't know!"

XXX

"Amnesia huh? Can't say I blame her. After what she's been through I wouldn't want to remember either." Temari's tone was dark as she spoke to Gaara outside the hospital room waiting for the medical nin's to finish. She had arrived ten minutes after the medic had left to fetch her. In that time, Gaara had convinced the girl to let the medics examine her with the promise that they would not restrain her again and he would return soon. "I'm glad you were able to calm her down Gaara, it must be terrifying not only to not know anyone around you but more so that you don't even know yourself! But it seems that she trusts you and that's a start."

Gaara was silent as he stared at the door. He had asked the girl a few more questions, none of which she was able to answer. She had begun to panic again but when Gaara moved to her she held her hand up and within a few moments, brought her emotions under control. When she looked at Gaara again, she actually managed a small smile! "I'm alright." At Gaara's disbelieving look. "Well I'm disturbed and terrified as all hell but I am alright. I promise I won't make a fuss like that again. I'm grateful for the help you've given me, even if I can't remember why I needed it in the first place."

"I will do everything in my power to help you get better and regain your memory." Gaara said then, surprising even himself. The girl looked shocked for a moment but then her face melted into a true smile.

"You know what? I have no idea where I am or who I am but…I trust you. And I'll do whatever you ask if it will help things start to make sense to me. Just please…" She had lowered her voice at that point. "Don't let them tie me down again okay?" Gaara could see the fear in her eyes and nodded gravely.

"You have my word."

"Gaara. Gaara! Are you listening to me?" Temari's impatient voice cut through his memory. He tore his gaze away from the doorway to look at his big sister.

"She does trust me. I have no idea why." He said almost as if to himself.

"Don't you?" Temari asked surprised. "The whole village trusts you with their lives Gaara. And it doesn't take much to see you care about what happens to her. I'm sure she can sense that and that's why she trusts you."

"She is foolish to trust me with her life." Gaara said quietly, again almost to himself.

Temari just looked at him. She was about to respond when they were interrupted by Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke. Temari greeted the three warmly, congratulating Sasuke on finally getting his head screwed on straight. Naruto laughed heartily at that. Gaara just glared at Sasuke.

"I'm glad the other medic was able to find you so quickly." He said.

"We were still on the roof of your office Kazekage-sama. So we were able to make it here quickly." Kakashi answered.

"Did you find anything?" Temari asked as though she really didn't expect a positive response.

Sasuke shook his head. "No Gaara was right. The frequent sandstorms in this area have obliterated any evidence that anything ever happened up there. It seems we lost his trail again." He said the last through gritted teeth.

"Calm down Sasuke. I told you we'll find him." Naruto chided him. "Besides, right now the girl and her condition are more important."

"You're right Naruto. She'll be able to give us some information." Gaara's glare became even more dangerous. Temari quickly spoke up.

"I don't think she'll be able to help you right now Sasuke-kun. For one she's still absolutely terrified about what's going on and two…it seems she has amnesia."

Sasuke sighed. "That's not surprising. The Tsukuyomi is a genjutsu that is so fierce it breaks a person's spirit. The visions were probably so traumatizing that her mind suppressed everything in an attempt to keep itself from falling apart. Dammit!" He hit the wall with his fist. "We were so close and now our only lead is completely useless." Gaara looked like he was having extreme difficulty not saying something but he was saved the effort as the door opened at that moment and the medical ninja's came out.

"How is she?" Gaara asked.

"For the most part physically she's fine thanks to Sakura-san. A couple of small cuts reopened but we've bandaged them for now and they pose no danger to her. We put the IV back on her as she's not yet ready to eat anything and emotionally she's recovering quite quickly. She was even making jokes with us." The medical ninja shook her head in amazement. "I know she can't remember what Uchiha Itachi did to her but…she's strong. Still, try not to upset her, it makes her breathing worse and limit your visit. She's lost a lot of blood and even with the blood pills, she needs rest."

"We won't be long." Kakashi said brightly as he pushed his way past the medic. Everyone else immediately followed.

Sasuke's eyes went wide when he entered the room. The girl was sitting up in the bed with a few bandages on her arms from the cuts that had reopened when she had gotten upset. But the difference between the tortured soul he saw unconscious earlier and the bright face he saw now was extreme. She had shoulder length brown hair that was layered and framed her face and though she was still very pale her eyes were warm, bright and full of life. He could hear faintly the difficulty she was having breathing but she even managed a smile when she saw Gaara. However, Sasuke saw barely disguised fear in her eyes when she saw him, Kakashi and Naruto. Still, he couldn't help but respect her for trying to disguise it at all.

"So how are you feeling?" Kakashi said brightly when he reached her bedside. The girl did not answer him. The fear in her eyes was increasing by the second as she looked from Kakashi to Naruto to Sasuke. Gaara stepped forward.

"It's alright. They are my friends. Their comrade is the one who saved you and they are here to help you." He introduced each of them, trying a little too obviously to hide the sneer as he said Sasuke's name. He purposely did not say his last name.

She did not look convinced. Naruto snaked around Kakashi and sat down in the chair beside the bed. "Don't worry about Kakashi-sensei. The mask is pretty weird, I've been trying to see around it ever since he became our teacher but he's actually a pretty nice guy…when you can tear him away from Icha Icha Paradise that is." He chuckled and Sasuke saw the girl smile, although somewhat involuntarily.

Sasuke smirked to himself. "That's Naruto for you. He can bring a smile to the face of an enemy."

"So you don't remember your name huh?" Naruto asked. The girl slowly shook her head. "Well that won't do. What the heck are we gonna call you? I know." He snapped his fingers. "We'll have to give you a name for now until you can remember the real one okay?"

"Actually that's probably a really good idea." She finally spoke. "After all, I wouldn't want people to address me as 'hey you with the broken brain!' you know what I mean?"

Naruto just looked at her shocked for a second then he burst out laughing. Even Kakashi suppressed a chuckle. A genuine smile hit the girl's face, although the fear never left her eyes.

"But what to call you?" Naruto pulled a face as he thought. Temari took advantage of the momentary silence and stepped forward.

"By the way you were wearing this jewelry when you were brought here. We took it off so it wouldn't get broken while we were treating you. I've been keeping them safe for you" She handed over a silver bracelet of crescent moons with little crystals in the their centers. Along with a pair of silver crescent moon earrings.

"Gee. You think I like moons much?" The girl said eyeing her belongings. "They are beautiful though. Thank you." She smiled warmly at Temari and slipped the earrings in. She held on to the bracelet as the IV was still in her hands.

"Then I think you should be called Mizuki." Gaara spoke up. Everyone looked at him while he looked at the girl for approval. "It's means 'beautiful moon'."

She looked at Gaara for a second before smiling and nodding. Naruto yelled out, "That's awesome Gaara. Mizuki. It fits! Alright Mizuki-chan, we need to talk a little bit about what happened to you."

Mizuki's face darkened but she pushed on. "Are you finally going to tell me what happened to me?"

"Well we're not exactly sure what happened to you Mizuki-chan." Kakashi said. "All we really do know is that you were attacked by a criminal we've been searching for, for a long time. He placed a genjutsu on you that hurt you. Do you remember anything about that?" He watched her closely for her reaction.

Mizuki looked blankly at Kakashi. "He put me in a what? What the heck is a genjutsu?"

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Never mind that. Why don't you tell us what you do remember Mizuki-chan?"

Mizuki seemed to think hard for a moment. "…Red light. I remember red light." She closed her eyes, willing the image to become clearer. But after a few seconds her hands began to shake and she became even whiter. "I'm sorry. I can't see anything more clearly than that."

"And there's nothing about your family, your home?" Naruto asked with genuine concern on his face. Mizuki gave a small smile at the look on his face but she shook her head.

"There's nothing. It's like my memory is a completely blank slate that's being written over with everything I'm doing now. Except for the red light and that…" She paused. "I don't think I want to remember that."

"Why not?" Gaara asked.

"Because when I try to think about it, my heart starts racing and I feel afraid. More afraid than I think I've ever been."

"It may have been when he first placed the genjutsu on her." Sasuke thought to himself.

"Then you don't have to think about it right now." Kakashi said turning to Sasuke. "Sasuke, use your Sharingan to see if we can confirm what Sakura said." Sasuke nodded and looked straight at Mizuki. She stared hard at Sasuke, for the first time noticing his eyes. When she saw those eyes drill into her, terror filled her own eyes.

"No." She whimpered. She dropped her bracelet and tried to push herself away from Sasuke. Naruto stood up and reached for her but she slapped him away. "NO!" She yelled. "Stay away from me! Don't look at me with those eyes!" She hid her face in her hands and her breathing became increasingly shallow. "Not those eyes. Not again!"

"Mizuki-chan." Naruto said, feeling helpless.

"That's enough Sasuke." Kakashi held up his hand. Sasuke blinked and the Sharingan was gone.

Gaara sat on the edge of the bed and put a hand on Mizuki's shoulder.

"Poor thing. She's shaking like a leaf." Temari walked around the other side of the bed and stroked Mizuki's hair. "It's okay Mizuki-chan. It's over."

"Interesting." Kakashi said thoughtfully.

"Interesting? What the hell were you thinking Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto growled. He stood up and picked up the moon bracelet where it had fallen on the floor. He placed it into Mizuki's hand as she had uncovered her face. Which was whiter and more drawn than he had seen it. It took her several seconds before she could bring her breathing under control.

"Well first of all I wanted to see if Sasuke could locate Mizuki-chan's chakra." He looked at Sasuke who shook his head.

"There's not a trace of any chakra anywhere. Not that it's possible but that's what I saw…or didn't see that is. And it's not as though it's being suppressed either. It's just not there."

"Secondly, her reaction to Sasuke's Sharingan shows us that it was indeed Itachi who attacked her and not a copycat who was using henge no jutsu. We all know the Sharingan cannot be copied, even with a henge, it being one of the oldest and most powerful kekkei genkai's out there. And thirdly, since she reacted so strongly to Sasuke's Sharingan even though it wasn't the Mangekyou Sharingan it shows that her memory likely isn't buried that far beneath the surface. I am sorry Mizuki-chan." He placed his hand over hers as she started to calm down. "I didn't want to put you through more pain but we needed to be sure." Mizuki looked at Kakashi as though she didn't really understand but she nodded. Kakashi stood up. "Of course this leaves us with a most perplexing mystery."

"Why is she here and alive if she has no chakra?" Naruto asked as though he wasn't really sure he was giving the right answer.

"Exactly."

"Um…excuse me but what is chakra?" Mizuki asked a little irritated. "Everyone here keeps talking about it but I have no idea what the heck it is." The others just looked at her.

"You don't know what chakra is?" Sasuke asked incredulously. Mizuki shook her head but would not look Sasuke in the face.

"Why don't I explain it to her? I think she's had more than enough of you clowns." A voice came from the door and everyone looked to see Sakura standing there with Kankurou. She had a tired smile on her face.

"Sakura-chan what are you doing here? You're supposed to be resting!" Naruto ran to her at the doorway. Mizuki watched Naruto and her apparent saviour with interest.

"I'm fine Naruto. I did sleep some but when Kankurou came and told me the girl had awoken I had to come down here." She gave him a reassuring smile which by the look on his face he didn't buy for one second. She walked past him and over to the bed. "Kankurou told me you have amnesia but other than that how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay considering. And we've decided that my name will be Mizuki until I get my memory back."

"Oh yeah? Well it's nice to meet you Mizuki-chan. I'm Sakura and I'm going to officially order everyone in this room to get out now. I'm going to examine Mizuki and talk to her a little bit about the problems we're facing and then she's going to sleep for the rest of the day. Understood?" Her gaze dared anyone in the room to contradict her. Which of course everyone in the room knew better than to do. They filed out of the room one by one. Naruto yelled a 'feel better Mizuki-chan' and 'you better take your own advice Sakura-chan' before leaving. Gaara was the last to leave.

"You'll keep me updated Sakura-san?"

"Of course Gaara. I won't be too long."

Gaara looked at Mizuki. "You can rest knowing you're safe here. I won't let anyone harm you."

Mizuki gave Gaara a grateful look. "Thank you Gaara. For everything. Including my name!"

Gaara nodded and left.

Sakura looked after Gaara puzzled. "What was that all about?" But she shrugged it off and turned her attention to Mizuki. "Alright get comfortable. I'm going to explain everything to you about chakra and why you not having any is such a point of interest."

XXX

It was a full two hours later when Sakura finally left the hospital room. She found Sasuke leaning against the wall in the hallway beside the door.

"How is she?"

"Fast asleep. I can't believe she woke up as soon as she did. The last time Kakashi-sensei was put in a genjutsu like that, he was unconscious for several days! She's also…" Sakura trailed off, remembering what Mizuki had said when she was examined.

XXX

"My breathing is not too bad Sakura-san but I'm still kind of sore in my lower stomach."

"Here?" Sakura replied, gently touching the area just below Mizuki's navel. She nodded and looked at Sakura as though she knew there was something she wasn't being told. Sakura felt horrible. As a girl, she could only imagine what it would be like to go through what Mizuki had. Sakura didn't want to imagine it. And she was determined that Mizuki should not know until she'd had more of a chance to recover physically. There would be enough time to face her trauma later. "Oh I wouldn't worry about that. There's some scar tissue there from the attack but when we get back to Konoha my master will have you fixed up in no time. She's great like that."

"You mean I can't stay here until I regain my memory?" Mizuki looked positively terrified. "I have to go to your home with…." She paused. "I can't stay here?" Sakura understood what she was trying not to say.

"Please don't be afraid Mizuki-chan. We're here to help you."

"I'm not so sure." Mizuki said with a sour look. "I think all you want is for me to regain my memory so I can help you find your enemy."

Sakura was surprised that she had read Sasuke that well and that quickly. She feigned innocence. "What makes you say that Mizuki-chan?"

"I've lost my memory, not my hearing. I could hear 'him' talking with the others earlier outside the door."

Sakura smiled reassuringly. "Sasuke-kun's attitude is not my own nor is it Naruto's or Kakashi-sensei's. And besides, Sasuke-kun does really care about what happens to you, he's just….a little obsessed."

"With the man who attacked me? The one who has his eyes?" Mizuki's tone was one of someone who had pretty much figured it out. But this was one secret Sakura didn't have the authority to share.

"Sasuke-kun is after this man's life. He has his reasons and believe me, they're worth being a little obsessed over."

"Even at the expense of friendship?" At Sakura's shocked look. "It just seems to me that Sasuke is a bit of an outsider compared to you and Naruto. I can tell you're all close but with him it's different." She seemed at a loss for words to explain what she meant. "I'm sorry. I think I'm just tired. I'm noticing things that probably aren't there."

Sakura forced back her shock at Mizuki's accurate perception and said, "Oh don't worry about it." And eager for a change of subject, she had started explaining to Mizuki the basic workings of the world she had forgotten.

XXX

"She's also what Sakura?" Sasuke prodded.

"Nothing." Sakura wasn't going to talk about something so personal with Sasuke. Especially since Mizuki's perception had been so good. Sasuke didn't seem to care much about her, only what she could provide in terms of finding Itachi. So she stuck to the information he already knew.

"It's weird Sasuke-kun. She knew nothing and I mean nothing about chakra, shinobi, the five great countries, hidden villages or any of it. Things that even a farmer in the most remote village should know were complete mysteries to Mizuki-chan. Her memory has been completely wiped."

"Even with her memory gone, it still doesn't explain why she has no chakra."

"No it doesn't. We have more questions than answers right now and it seems like the only way to get any answers is to find Itachi."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

Sakura glared at him. Worried or not, she was too damn tired to take any bullshit, even from Sasuke. "Think about it Sasuke-kun. Itachi attacked her here, left when he was discovered by Gaara and then he came back (albeit in shadow form). Don't you think it's altogether too possible that he'll try and attack her again?"

"Then we should have someone in there guarding her every second shouldn't we?"

"That's what I'm here for." Temari appeared from around the corner. "Gaara sent me to baby-sit for a while so Sakura-chan can get some rest. Then she can relieve me in the morning."

"Why doesn't Gaara do it himself? It seems the girl has become quite attached to him."

Temari didn't miss the scorn in Sasuke's voice. "In case you've forgotten, Gaara is the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village. He's spent enough time away from his duties because of this. Now that Mizuki-chan is doing better he has work to do. And it is true that Mizuki-chan trusts Gaara but then again he doesn't scare the daylights out of her like you do." And with that she walked into the room and shut the door behind her.

"I'm not my brother!" Sasuke yelled before Sakura shushed him.

"For goodness sake Sasuke-kun we're in a hospital!" She said urgently, remembering what Mizuki had said about being able to hear them. Sasuke said nothing but he stalked past Sakura, down the hall and out of sight. Sakura sighed. She could tell Gaara and Sasuke had a problem with each other, she just couldn't understand what it was about or why they had to be such pains about it. "Why can't we have an easy mission for once without the drama?" She sighed again and started off to give Gaara an update before heading to her room. She could practically hear the bed calling to her.

A/N: Okay not the best ending to a chapter I admit. The original ending was better but it made the chap waaay too long so I had to cut it short. Future chaps will be further apart I just wanted to get things rolling so y'all wouldn't get bored! :) As always, please review and let me know what you think. Have a great week!


	3. Old Wounds

A/N: If you're not a follower of the anime you might not know who 'Matsuri' is. She's a random character from some filler that attempted to give our fav sand siblings more of a presence in the series. I'm not a fan of filler but it worked for my purposes. :)

Chapter 3

Old Wounds

Sasuke darted out of the hospital and down the street. He didn't have a destination, he just had a lot of angry energy to burn.

"How dare they compare me to that bastard Itachi! I'm nothing like him!" He grumbled under his breath as he stalked past the villagers, not caring or even noticing if he knocked into them. He was so inwardly focused that he didn't hear Naruto call to him or start to follow him. "I'm not responsible for what Itachi does. It's not my fault that silly girl got hurt." He growled as he sent another hapless villager sprawling sideways. "If she was stupid enough to cross paths with Itachi then she deserved it!" He immediately stopped and chastised himself for thinking such a thing. "No one deserves what she went through. Why would Itachi do something like that anyway? And even more disturbing, why would he come back just to torture her even more? Why not just kill her?" Sasuke started walking quickly again and only stopped when he found himself standing in front of an area that was obviously used for training. It was deserted now that late afternoon was approaching and he smiled. "This looks like a good place to work off some energy."

When Naruto finally caught up with Sasuke he saw him hard at work, laying kicks and punches into training poles. Naruto knew something was wrong. He also knew that something was named Gaara and there would be little he could do about it. So he didn't say anything to Sasuke when he approached him other than. "Wouldn't you rather get a work out against something that fights back?"

XXX

The sun had set when Naruto and Sasuke finally called it quits and headed back towards the heart of town for a bath. Naruto stretched loudly as they walked down the deserted streets. "Ah that was great! It's been a while since we've sparred like that. I needed that workout." Sasuke said nothing but stared straight ahead. Naruto sighed. When Sasuke was sulking like this there was nothing for it. Fortunately Naruto had never needed another person's participation to keep a conversation going.

"So what do you think of Mizuki-chan huh? She's certainly showing guts considering what's happening to her. I can't help but respect that you know? Strength like that, you don't find it often in someone who hasn't been raised a shinobi. And she's mysterious too. A real puzzle but once we get her back to Konoha I'm sure we'll be able to figure everything out. Tsunade no ba-chan will heal her up right and then the medics can probably do a reverse hypnosis on her like they did on me that one time and we'll get her memories straightened out and who knows? She may be able to lead us right to that bastard Itachi when she gets her memories back."

"She couldn't even look at me." Sasuke spoke suddenly.

"What?"

"My eyes are the same as my brother's. I terrified her so much she couldn't even look me in the face."

"Well that's not your fault Sasuke. She wasn't prepared to see the Sharingan again so soon. It was a shock to her. I mean, what Itachi did is unforgivable and it'll probably take a while for Mizuki-chan to get over it (once she remembers it) but she will get over it and then she'll see the charming you that we've all come to know and love." Naruto grinned and Sasuke just glared at him.

"It is my fault Naruto." He replied looking straight ahead again. "If I hadn't been so obsessed with my revenge then I might have been able to see past my quest for power and gained the true power needed to defeat him. I left him alive and now look what he's done. Everyone here blames me for what happened to the girl and they're right to. For God's sake Naruto she thinks I'm more frightening than Gaara! I don't care how much he's changed that's just not right!" He sighed. "I shouldn't have come here."

Naruto looked at Sasuke shocked. This was the first time he'd talked about anything regarding his time away from Konoha and the fight with Itachi in three years. "But why is Gaara's opinion messing him up so much?" Naruto thought to himself. Out loud he said, "Itachi's actions are his own Sasuke you can't do anything about it other than to track him down and end it. Which is what I'm sure is gonna happen this time. Mizuki-chan is the key to finding and ending this crap with your brother I just know it! You can't let Gaara get to you." Sasuke looked at Naruto but this time it was Naruto's turn to look straight ahead. Sasuke could read the optimism on Naruto's face and despite himself, he was starting to feel better.

"What do you think Gaara's story is regarding the girl anyway?" Sasuke asked feeling the need to change the subject.

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen Gaara in a long time and I told you how he's changed big time and now lives his life to protect the people of the sand village but even I was shocked at how he seems to care for Mizuki-chan. And he seemed really, really disturbed about what happened to her in the Genjutsu. From what I know, it's really unlike him to be so affected by something."

"Do you think he's falling for her?" Sasuke wasn't sure why he was asking the question or where the ever so slightly bitter tone came from but he couldn't stop himself.

"Nah I don't think so." Naruto answered immediately seeming not to take notice. "I think there's something else behind this but I don't think it's anything to do with love. I think there's something Gaara's hiding." Naruto had been worried about Gaara ever since he saw him shaking slightly when he had first started talking about Mizuki. Four years absence or not, this was 'not' Gaara behaviour. He made a mental note to ask Temari or Kankurou about it in the morning.

They reached the bath house at that point and Naruto practically cheered. "We're here! This bath is gonna be great!"

"Just do me one favour Naruto?" Sasuke stopped him just before he could enter. "Let's have a quiet bath okay?"

Naruto chuckled and nodded in response and they both went in.

XXX

Gaara could not keep his mind on work. His thoughts kept straying back to when he had first found Mizuki. He saw her clearly; lying straight and stiff as a board, gravel and sand from the roof in her hair and blowing across her face. Her face twisted in a snarl of fear and pain. Uchiha Itachi standing above her, not moving an inch. Just staring at her prone body as a meat shop butcher deciding where to slice first. She was clearly in a genjutsu at that point but why would Itachi bring her here just to vanish into thin air without her? And why bother coming back just to make her condition worse? Why not just kill her right then and there?

"Something's not right." He said aloud without intending to. Not that there was anyone there to hear him. It was after midnight and he was very alone in his office. He put down the paperwork he had been sifting through and sighed. He was very honoured to have the position of Kazekage, especially after how useless his father had been but there were some days he wanted to take the stacks of papers and requests and let a sandstorm carry them away. He decided he had done enough work for one day. He left his office intending to go home to bed (since having Shukaku ripped from him he had discovered that sleep really was a wonderful thing now that he could do it feeling safe) but wasn't all too shocked when he found his feet carrying him back to the hospital and Mizuki's room.

He stopped just outside the door and listened at it. He wasn't sure what he was listening for, he was sure Mizuki was still asleep and Temari probably was too. He had never known Temari to be able to stay awake on an all night guard duty. He had just made his mind up that he was being overcautious and was about to leave when he heard the quietest shuffling footsteps coming across the floor to the door. He froze as the doorknob started to turn but sighed with relief when the door opened only to reveal Mizuki.

"Gaara!" She whispered surprised. "I'm sorry if I frightened you but I heard something outside the door."

"Why didn't you wake Temari?" Gaara was astonished at how good her hearing seemed to be, he was sure he hadn't made a peep. But he was a little annoyed with her recklessness. "What if I had been Itachi?"

"Well from what I understand, last time he didn't use a door. It doesn't seem he needs one." She replied back with one eyebrow raised. Gaara sighed and nodded.

"I'm sorry I woke you." He said turning to leave.

"You didn't wake me actually." Mizuki said. "I've been awake for a couple of hours. I did sleep a lot this afternoon but I kept having strange dreams about red light until I found I couldn't sleep anymore."

That caught Gaara's attention. "You're having bad dreams?"

"Sort of. They're not so much nightmares as they are just disturbing. I dream that I'm standing alone in a room that I don't remember and I'm seeing this red light. I think it's the same light that I remembered from before. Except I'm not afraid of this light. I'm more curious than anything. But as I step forward, it suddenly gets really bright and I'm engulfed in it. Then I am afraid. It's so thick I can't see anything but just as it starts to clear, I wake up." She shrugged and tried to hide the shiver that went through her.

"It's not uncommon to relive memories in dreams." Gaara said. "Perhaps that will be how you regain your memory."

"I hope not. It doesn't take a genius to figure out something horrible happened to me. I can already feel the weight of what I can't remember pressing down on me. If I were to gain those memories back through my dreams, I think I would never sleep again."

"Mizuki." Gaara suppressed the urge to reach out and touch her arm. Images flashed through his mind; screams, blood, the sickening thunk of a final blow, and his inability to do anything about it. He closed his eyes and fought the images back.

"Are you alright Gaara?" Mizuki had stepped forward and placed her hand on Gaara's arm. Even though his face was mostly in darkness, she could tell he'd gone pale in the last few seconds and it worried her. Gaara saw the concern on her face and forced himself to regain composure.

"I am alright. I believe I'm just tired."

She didn't look completely convinced but she nodded. "I can understand that. It's rather late. Thank you for listening to me rant about my dreams. I think I'll be able to go back to sleep now."

"Sleep well Mizuki." Gaara nodded and walked down the corridor. Mizuki watched him leave.

"You too Gaara." She turned and went back to her bed. She wasn't all that surprised to find that as soon as her head hit the pillow sleep overtook her.

From her chair where she had been pretending to sleep, Temari looked to the door where her brother had departed just a moment ago. "Gaara."

XXX

Sakura woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and back to her old self. She reached the hospital just as Naruto and Kakashi did.

"Ohaio Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he saw her approach. "Are you all rested up now?"

"Ohaio Naruto. Kakashi-sensei. I'm feeling great this morning." She looked around her. "Where's Sasuke-kun?"

"Uh he took off earlier this morning. I have no idea where though." Naruto said in a semi-amused tone. True to his request, Sasuke hadn't spoken another word to Naruto while they relaxed in the bath house. When they had finally gone back to their rooms and were about to retire,

"Do you know what the plan is tomorrow morning?" He had said just before going into his room.

"Um…I think we're going to see Mizuki-chan first to see how she's coming along, then based on that we either leave for Konoha or do some more investigating until she can recover enough to travel."

"I think I'll skip the hospital trip and start the investigating early. I doubt she'll be well enough to travel not even 24 hours after being released from a Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu. And I'm sure Sakura won't want her to have too many visitors."

Naruto's look showed Sasuke that he understood completely. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow then. Later." And Naruto shut his door behind him.

"I see." Sakura said somewhat disappointed. She had been looking forward to seeing Sasuke this morning (not that she wasn't every day) but she was also disappointed that he really didn't seem to care much about Mizuki's welfare. "I told Mizuki-chan he was a little obsessed. Understatement of the century. I really thought he'd be smarter about it this time." She thought to herself. Out loud she said, "Well, lets see how Mizuki-chan's doing." And she led the way into the hospital.

When they reached the hospital room they were surprised to see Mizuki sitting up in bed eating breakfast with Temari who was sitting at the end of the bed likewise eating and they were talking animatedly like they'd been friends for years.

"Ohaio!" Temari called when the three leaf shinobi entered. "Doesn't Mizuki-chan look great this morning?"

Naruto looked at Mizuki and was indeed surprised to see that almost all of the colour had come back to her face. The IV's had been removed and Mizuki had put the bracelet on her right wrist. The little jewels in the centre of the crescent moons twinkled in the ray of sunlight coming through the window. But that was nothing compared to her eyes. Naruto watched as she laughed with Temari over some joke they had shared and her eyes positively shone. But as soon as her gaze was turned on the new arrivals, he saw fear there almost immediately again although he could tell she was doing her best to hide it. He was confused. "Why is she so afraid of us?"

"You certainly look like you're feeling a lot better today Mizuki-chan." Sakura said brightly, approaching the bed.

"Same to you Sakura-san." Mizuki countered. Her breathing was still laboured but it didn't seem to be bothering her as much as it had the previous day. "You seemed really tired yesterday but I guess that's to be expected after what you did for me. By the way, I never really got a chance to thank you yesterday for everything you've done. You saved my life. I'm very grateful." She bowed her head slightly to Sakura.

Sakura smiled at her but was surprised as well to see how much fear had come into her eyes when the three of them had entered the room. "Sasuke's not here. Why is she still reacting with fear to us?" she thought. Out loud she said, "Oh you're more than welcome Mizuki-chan I'm just glad I was able to help." She sat down on the end of the bed beside Temari. "It's great that you've got your appetite back."

"Yeah I woke up this morning feeling absolutely ravenous! So Temari called a medic in and he removed the IV's and we've been snacking ever since. I feel like I haven't eaten for a year!" She said happily as she took a big bite out of an apple. "I know I've lost my memory but I think I even forgot how good food tastes." She pointed at the platter of fruit. "You guys hungry? Help yourselves before I eat it all!"

Naruto smiled and took some grapes. "You think that's good, you just wait until we get back to Konoha. I'll take you to Ichiraku Ramen. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven." Mizuki smiled brightly but the fear in her eyes remained. Kakashi noticed that her eyes kept darting to the door.

"Sasuke-kun started his work early this morning but he said to say that he hopes you're feeling better." Sakura said having also read accurately Mizuki's actions. Mizuki gave Sakura a look that said she didn't believe a word of it so Sakura changed the subject. "Alright, I'm going to see if I can make any more difference in the state of your lungs today but whether or not I do, I think it's important that we set off for Konoha no later than tomorrow."

"So soon?" There was no mistaking the fear in Mizuki's eyes now. She had a genuine fear of the Konoha ninjas but Sakura could not think of why. She put down the apple she had been enjoying so much. Temari gave her a sympathetic look.

"It'll be alright Mizuki-chan." She stood up to leave, Naruto and Kakashi doing the same.

"It's important that we get you back to my master so she can heal you properly. We won't be long." Sakura called to the others before turning back to Mizuki. "Now that the IV is gone, I'd like you to start walking a bit today if you can." Mizuki nodded with a glum look as Sakura pulled the privacy curtain around and the others left the room. Once outside, Kakashi turned to Temari.

"Has she said anything to you about why she seems so frightened of us Temari?"

"Nothing other than the fact that she doesn't much care for Sasuke and his Sharingan but I think that's understandable under the circumstances. Perhaps she's scared of having to travel with him."

"I don't think it's just Sasuke. She seems frightened of all of us." He sighed. "It'll make things difficult traveling back to Konoha."

"Give her a break, she's going through a lot. She'll warm up to you guys. We did didn't we?" Temari said with a smug look.

Kakashi grinned. "You're probably right. Well, I'm going to find Sasuke before he gets frustrated enough to start barging into stranger's homes looking for Itachi. Coming Naruto?"

"I'll catch up to you Kakashi-sensei, I just wanna ask Temari something." Kakashi nodded and left. Temari looked at Naruto questioningly.

"Um…Temari, I wanted to ask you about Gaara. I know it's been a while since I've seen him but even I know the behaviour I've seen lately is really un-Gaara-like. I've been sort of worried about him. I know it's to do with Mizuki-chan and believe me, what happened to her is breaking my heart too but Gaara is different isn't he? I mean, especially since Mizuki-chan is a complete stranger to him."

Temari gave a long sigh. "I knew you'd figure out something was wrong Naruto-kun." She looked at the hospital room door where they could hear Sakura and Mizuki's voices faintly. She looked up and down the hallway before turning back to Naruto. "I'll tell you but not here." She tilted her head for Naruto to follow and he did. They walked down the hall a ways until they came to an empty room. Temari shooed Naruto in and then checked to make sure there was nobody around before closing the door.

"Uh…why the secrecy?" Naruto was really confused.

"Because aside from myself, Kankurou and Gaara no one knows the real story about what happened. Kankurou was worried about losing the confidence of the elders who put Gaara in the position of Kazekage because they thought they could keep better control over him. They've never been too pleased by how great a leader he became or how the villager's came to love him. Kankurou was afraid the truth would make Gaara appear weak. So for his sake, we told a somewhat alternate version of that incident."

"Incident?"

Temari looked unsure of how to begin. "Do you remember Gaara's first student? The one who was kidnapped several years ago and who you helped us to recover?"

Naruto searched his memory. "Oh yeah! I remember her. That was…her name was…"

"Her name was Matsuri." A glassy haze came over Temari's eyes. "She came across as a weakling at first. Afraid of weapons and fighting. Totally unfit to be a shinobi I thought. But under Gaara's tutelage she became quite strong and she was always by his side. His number one student. When Gaara was named Kazekage, she took his place as an instructor in the Sand Village's ninja academy."

Naruto whistled. "Wow she became good really fast huh?"

"With Gaara as a teacher almost anyone would. But there was something happening with Matsuri in all the time she was Gaara's pupil." Temari paused but in one of his rare moments of sensitivity, Naruto got the hint.

"Matsuri-chan fell in love with Gaara didn't she?"

"I was the only one who knew." Temari said quietly. "She told me one night not long after you recovered Gaara from the Akatsuki. She told me that she had been so terrified when he had been taken and the thought of never seeing him again made her realize just how strong her feelings were. She didn't care that he didn't have the power of the ichibi anymore. She said he was the strongest shinobi she'd ever known hands down. And one of the most compassionate people she'd ever met. Not even Kankurou and I had ever thought of Gaara as highly as she did and we're his siblings." Temari paused again and Naruto saw tears in her eyes. He didn't say anything however and waited for her to continue.

"I told her she should just confess. Keeping feelings bottled up like that eventually wore down a person's sanity but she was frightened. She knew Gaara cared for her and the people of the village but he'd gone through so much and was still finding his way as someone who wanted to experience bonds rather than annihilate them. She wasn't sure, and frankly I wasn't either, if he was even capable of falling love with someone. So her secret was kept by her and myself for two years. But I was right, keeping feelings that strong to yourself eventually wears you down and it was harder and harder on Matsuri until one night she just up and confessed to Gaara during one of the walks they often took together."

"Don't tell me that baka turned her down." If Sakura had been in the room, she would have said that sensitive Naruto had just gotten up and bolted out the door leaving ignorant dork in his place. Temari paid him little attention though, the memory was clearly hard on her and her voice was starting to crack.

"From what he told me after, Gaara didn't say anything. He was too shocked! Like most men usually are when it comes to love he was completely oblivious and had no idea she felt anything like that for him." She said the last with just the slightest trace of bitterness in her voice. "She took his silence as a no and ran off, heartbroken. Gaara found me and told me what happened. I gave him a blast of shit and told him to go find her but his search revealed she had left the village. Kankurou suggested we give her time to calm down but I was worried about her state of mind so a couple of hours later that night Gaara, Kankurou and I left the village to find her. Gaara found her before Kankurou and I but not before the band of rogue ninja's." She audibly gulped.

"Rogue Ninja's?" Naruto's eyes narrowed. "What did they do to her Temari?" He said quietly his own voice starting to break. It turned out sensitive Naruto was only taking a bathroom break. He was back now.

"There were almost twenty of them so she would have had no chance to fight back once they surprised her. When Gaara finally found her, she'd been beaten and raped by the ninja's and was half dead tied to a tree." Tears began to fall from Temari's eyes at the memory. "Gaara went crazy. He attacked the ninja's head on and normally that wouldn't be a concern, I mean, it's Gaara right? But even though he's still incredibly strong, he no longer had Shukaku's ultimate protection. And in his fury, he forgot that and lost control like he hadn't in a long time. It made him sloppy. One of the ninja's got a lucky hit and Gaara hit the ground hard. Several of the ninja's pinned him while another taunted him by beating Matsuri more until finally…." She couldn't go on. She didn't need to.

Naruto's fists were clenched so hard he was surprised that he hadn't drawn blood. "Just like Mizuki-chan." He said almost inaudibly. He understood completely now why Gaara was so intent on protecting Mizuki and why he had been so upset by what happened to her. "It must be like reliving your worst nightmare." He spoke aloud suddenly.

"Kankurou and I arrived too late to save Matsuri-chan but we evened the odds a little for Gaara and between the three of us the band of rogue ninja's was defeated. But Gaara had been defeated and unable to save Matsuri-chan's life. As I said before, Kankurou worried that news of Gaara being defeated by a band of useless scum ninja's would ruin for him all he'd gained since becoming Kazekage. So when we returned to the village with Matsuri-chan's body, we said she was already dead when we found her." Temari suddenly hit a nearby table with her fist causing Naruto to jump out of his own nightmarish thoughts.

"I hated lying. It felt like we were tarnishing Matsuri-chan's memory. But the elder's of this village are…" She growled low in her throat. "Pompous old farts who actually miss the so-called leadership of that useless old Kazekage. They would have taken this defeat and politically crucified Gaara with it. So we had to keep it quiet."

Naruto was silent. He had thought Gaara hadn't communicated much with him over the last couple of years because he couldn't stand the thought of not being there when Akatsuki was brought down. He cursed his own ignorance. "He must have been in so much pain." Naruto said finally looking at Temari. "I'm surprised he was able to keep a hold of himself. I'm not sure I could."

"Kankurou and I were worried also that he might start to revert back to the old Gaara but when he untied Matsuri-chan, he held her tightly to him and he actually cried!" Temari managed a small smile when she saw Naruto's eyes go round in shock. "I know. But even though he never said it, I think he might just have loved Matsuri-chan back. And now with what's happening to Mizuki-chan, I think Gaara is seeing a chance to redeem himself. I think he sees some of Matsuri-chan in Mizuki-chan. I have seen it too. The bright eyes and smiles are the same in both of them. So if he can protect Mizuki-chan from Uchiha Itachi then…"

"Matsuri-chan might forgive him for not being able to protect her." Naruto finished with a sniff. He had tears in his eyes now too from Temari's story. Naruto had an idea how Gaara felt. Sasuke hadn't died but it'd come too damn close to it and so many times Naruto had come close but hadn't been able to save him. If Sasuke had actually died…..Naruto could understand Gaara's feelings.

"More like he could forgive himself. Especially since…" Temari looked Naruto in the eye. "The night Gaara found Mizuki-chan was exactly two years to the night that Matsuri-chan was killed. He wasn't working late in his office. He had stayed late because he was offering prayers and tending the blue orchid flowers he had planted after her funeral. It was her favourite flower you see."

XXX

Naruto left the room with a heavy heart and a swimming head. He passed Mizuki's room and heard laughter. He saw that the door was open and peeked in. Sakura had finished whatever she had been doing and left. Gaara now sat with Mizuki and Naruto had not heard what Gaara had said but Mizuki had apparently found it funny. She was laughing freely and Naruto was astonished to see an extremely rare but true smile on Gaara's face! Gaara then stood up and moved back from the bed. Mizuki carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, leaning on Gaara momentarily for support. After a few seconds she got her bearings and together they walked towards the door. Not wanting to be discovered snooping, Naruto quickly and silently ran down the hall and out of the hospital and leapt off to find his teammates.

"I should ask you where you've been but I'm going to assume it was no where important." Sasuke said as Naruto finally found him and Kakashi near a fountain almost an hour after Kakashi had left him at the hospital. Naruto said nothing but looked to Sakura who had joined them a few minutes earlier to give them an update of Mizuki's condition. Sasuke looked at Naruto. He seemed really bothered by something, his eyes didn't have the same shine they usually did. But he had no chance to ask him what was wrong as Sakura was still speaking.

"I left her with Gaara for now. She was going to get up and walk for a while once she finished her breakfast. Aside from the damage that still has to be repaired in her lungs and some other internal organs and her lost memory, Mizuki-chan is recovering well beyond what I expected. I mean really quickly. I remember how long you both were out of it when you were subjected to Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan."

"It's probably to do with the fact that she has lost her memory. If she can't remember the psychological torture then she can't be affected by it." Kakashi stated logically. "But the fact that she woke up so quickly….that may be connected to the fact that she seems to have no chakra. I'm looking forward to getting back to Konoha and letting Neji get a look at her. I know the Sharingan can detect colour differences in chakra but the Byakugan will actually be able to locate her chakra network…if she has one." He shrugged. "We'll see I guess."

"We'll have to take it somewhat slow but I see no reason why we can't head off tomorrow morning. Kankurou is going to secure supplies for Mizuki for traveling."

"Excellent Sakura." Kakashi said. "We're unfortunately not finding much out here, not that I expected to." He turned to Sasuke and Naruto. "Why don't we take the day off? We've had enough harsh news to last us a while and it would be good if we were to spend some time with Mizuki-chan today before we head out. If she gets to know us a little, her fear of us will hopefully go away and it will make traveling with her a lot easier on all of us."

"You mean her fear of me." Sasuke said smartly. "I don't blame her for not liking the Sharingan, perhaps it would be better if I just continue looking around for today. I don't want to freak her out."

"It's not just you Sasuke-kun, Mizuki is afraid of all of us for some reason. Just don't use your Sharingan and she'll be fine." Sakura corrected him in a somewhat annoyed tone. He wasn't going to get away with being cool and standoffish today.

Sasuke sighed. Sakura wasn't buying his attempt at being concerned and he couldn't blame her. In truth, he felt no more comfortable around Mizuki than she did around him. The fear he had seen in her eyes yesterday had disturbed him. But fear alone he could have dealt with. He'd seen it directed at him many times since he'd been away. But there had also been accusation in her eyes. Pain and anger. He was completely different from his brother, now more so than ever but before she had looked away and covered her face she had looked at him for a moment like he was Itachi. Like he was the man who had done the unspeakable things that she could only half remember in dreams. Her eyes had drilled that message into him as much as his Sharingan had drilled into her and he had actually felt guilt. Just as Gaara had accused by his actions, and he himself had told Naruto the night before, Sasuke had felt responsible for what happened to this strange girl. He hated that. He had briefly felt respect for this girl for still being able to show strength after what she'd been through but now he just found her irritating. She didn't want to have anything to do with him or his Sharingan and that was fine. She could be best buddies with that self-righteous Gaara all she liked. He knew he and this 'mystery girl' would never be friends.

Sakura's piercing glare finally wore him down. "Fine whatever, let's go visit the girl but don't blame me if she freaks out again." He stood up and walked off in the direction of the hospital.

Kakashi sighed. It was going to be a 'long' trip back, he could feel it. He followed after Sasuke. Sakura just mumbled. "Why the hell is he being such a baka? Mizuki-chan's going through enough right now without him acting like a baka. Baka." She started after the others but stopped when she realized that Naruto was not behind her. She looked back to see Naruto was still standing in front of the fountain staring into it. His eyes were glazed over as though he was deep in thought or remembering something unpleasant.

"Naruto? Are you alright?" He looked up from his reverie and smiled at her but his eyes were still dark. "What has been eating him lately?" Sakura thought.

"Yeah Sakura-chan I'm okay, just lost in thought I guess." Naruto wanted really badly to tell the others what Temari had told him. Especially Sasuke. He would probably be able to understand Gaara a little more if he knew. But Temari had treated it like such a secret and he couldn't just tell it how and whenever he wanted to.

"You, lost in thought? Ha! Be careful Naruto. It's such new territory for you, you might get lost permanently." Sakura gave a smug smile, expecting Naruto to whine about her being mean to him.

"Actually I've gotten to know the terrain pretty well lately." He said without smiling as he walked right past her. She stared after him shocked.

"Naruto."

A/N: This chapter was so long I had to trim it back some. It's my issue as a writer I tend to be long winded :) As a result I'm not the happiest with it but that's okay. The chapter cut offs will resolve themselves in time. Thanks for reading and as always please review and let me know how I'm doing so far. Have an awesome week everyone! Later!


	4. Gaara's Secret

Chapter 4

Gaara's Secret

The teammates didn't have to go far before they came upon Gaara and Mizuki. Which was fortunate as Sakura was dangerously close to sending Sasuke and Naruto several feet in the air if they didn't stop pestering each other about their painfully apparent bad moods.

After a few careful steps and stretches, Mizuki's legs had fallen right back into working order and she and Gaara had walked almost a mile from the hospital. When the two groups met, they were taking a brief rest so she could catch her breath before they went back.

"Mizuki-chan! You made it this far! That's great!" Sakura called when she saw where they were. She turned her fisted hand which had been directed at Naruto's head into a fast wave. Naruto took the opportunity to slip away from her and behind Sasuke who just sighed and smacked him anyway. "Be sure you don't overdo it on your lungs though. How is your stomach?"

"A little sore but not enough to keep me still. Man that walk felt good!" She stretched her arms up over her head and sighed. Her breath wheezed out on the exhale. "My poor muscles feel like they haven't moved in a year either!" Her eyes betrayed her fear again but her smile was genuine when she greeted the group, until she saw Sasuke.

Sasuke expected her to immediately look away but she caught and held his gaze for a few seconds. This surprised him and although he had expected to feel relieved when she finally shed her fear of him, the expression on her face was not putting him at ease. She was not smiling but not frowning. In fact, the stoic expression made it almost impossible to tell what she was thinking. If possible, it was making him even more uncomfortable and he was angry when he finally had to look away from her.

"I take it your search has not yielded any results?" Gaara asked from where he sat beside Mizuki. Sasuke expected Gaara to ignore him as usual but was surprised when Gaara seemed to direct the question at him. And it hadn't been asked sarcastically either.

"Uh…no unfortunately we haven't located so much as a trace. I can't sense him anywhere around either. I believe he's left for now. Whether he's given up trying to cause trouble for you though still remains to be seen. We shouldn't let down our guard." Sasuke said looking directly at Mizuki, his eyes practically daring her to look away. She met his gaze again unflinchingly. He forced himself to look into her deep brown eyes and although the fear was still there, it was almost overwhelmed by another emotion. Anger? Disappointment? He couldn't tell. "Her eyes so far have shown her emotions so completely so why can't I tell what she's feeling now? Hmph…she's annoying." He thought sourly.

"Do you mind if we walk back to the hospital with you Mizuki-chan?" Kakashi asked pleasantly. "I think we've agreed that we're not going to find anything here to lead us to Uchiha Itachi and I'd like to discuss our travel plans for tomorrow morning if that's alright."

Mizuki looked like she'd rather be doing almost anything else but she nodded. Gaara stood and said to Mizuki, "Then I will leave you in their care. I will visit later alright?"

"Of course Gaara and…thank you for the talk earlier. It really helped."

"It helped me too." Gaara said as he quickly looked at Sasuke before he turned to walk away.

"Gaara wait up a second!" Naruto called out running after him. "I'll meet you guys at the hospital in a bit okay?"

Sakura looked after Naruto with dark eyes but she saw Sasuke looking at her and she focused on Mizuki. "Alright. Let's get you back for some rest. I'm sure you can use it after this."

Mizuki saw Sakura's dark expression and decided not to challenge her even though she wasn't feeling tired at all. "Sure Sakura-san." She stood up too quickly for her still atrophied muscles and her right leg gave out underneath her. She almost went sprawling but Sasuke caught her by the shoulders just in time. Mizuki instantly went stiff. Her breathing became ragged and she shut her eyes tight and turned her head away as though she was expecting to be hit. Sasuke reacted by letting go immediately. Sakura stepped up and took Mizuki's arm before she could fall again. Mizuki opened her eyes but apparently Sakura was no better than Sasuke. She gasped and wrenched her arm from Sakura's grasp, landing on her knees on the ground and covering her face with her hands. The three leafs made no move as Mizuki sat there, trying to calm herself. After several tense seconds, Mizuki's breathing calmed and she slowly took her hands from her face. Sakura took a cautious step forward.

"Mizuki-chan. Are you alright?" Mizuki looked at her and Sakura gasped. "My God she's sweating!" She thought as she saw the beads of perspiration run down Mizuki's forehead. "Is she that terrified?"

"I'm…alright Sakura-san." Mizuki said as she slowly stood up. None of the leaf shinobi dared help her again. "I'm sorry about that. I guess my balance isn't as great as I thought it was." She favoured them with a sheepish look and Sasuke could tell she was just as confused as they were as to why she had reacted that way but he could also tell one thing crystal clear. She did not trust them.

XXX

Naruto walked with Gaara towards the Sand's central building where his office was located. He said nothing at first, he was unsure how to bring up such a sensitive topic. Finally Gaara stopped and stared at Naruto. Naruto stammered out a few unintelligible words until Gaara said,

"Temari or Kankurou told you didn't they?"

Naruto looked at Gaara surprised for a moment and then looked away and nodded. Gaara sighed and began walking again. Naruto kept steady pace beside him. "Why did you never say anything? I might have been able to help."

"There was nothing you could have done. There was no time."

"No. I meant to help you." Gaara stopped again and looked at Naruto who continued. "It must have hurt so much, losing someone close to you like that. And now, to see it happening all again with Mizuki-chan…I honestly don't know how you've found the strength to deal with it."

Gaara began walking again and said nothing for a few minutes. Just as Naruto was about to ask if he was alright, Gaara said, "I was able to remain strong for the sake of my village and my bonds…because I knew that's what you would have done."

It was Naruto's turn to stop in his tracks and look shocked but a small smile came to his face. "You've come so far Gaara." He thought in admiration before catching up to his friend again.

They walked in companionable silence for a few more minutes but Naruto, never having been a fan of silence, broke it again. "So what were you and Mizuki-chan talking about when we found you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." Gaara said simply.

Naruto sighed. "I know you blame Sasuke for letting Itachi live and so for what happened to Mizuki-chan but it's really not his fault Gaara. He's just as disturbed about it as you are."

"You are wrong." Gaara said. He did not stop walking but his eyes narrowed. "Neither I nor Mizuki blame him for what happened to her." Gaara thought back to the conversation he'd had with Mizuki which started as they left the hospital.

XXX

"I know you are frightened of Sasuke but I can promise you he means you no harm." Gaara had said as they walked slowly through the hospital doors.

"He doesn't give a damn about me and you don't trust him that much is clear. So why should I?" Mizuki replied.

"I have my reasons but he has done nothing to harm you. And even if his intentions were malignant, Naruto would never let anything happen to you and I do trust Naruto."

Mizuki was silent for several seconds before speaking again. "I know there's some major history between you and Naruto-san, Temari-san told me you two are close friends. She also said that the last time you saw Sasuke, you were in some fight to the death and it got interrupted…."

"I know what you are asking Mizuki but it's not what you think." Gaara said as he helped Mizuki down the last step of the hospital entrance. "My grudge towards Sasuke has nothing to do with our past malice towards each other. You said Temari told you that Naruto and I are good friends?"

Mizuki nodded.

"What Naruto and I share is beyond mere friendship. He is my saviour. He saved me from the hell called loneliness from which I believed there was no escape. Long ago," He paused as if trying to find the right words to say. "I hated every living thing and lived loving only myself. I had no friends, even my own siblings were a nuisance I'd just as soon kill as look at. The best part was that I honestly thought I was happy that way. I thought that taking the lives of others was the only way for me to prove my existence. The way it was meant to be." Gaara eyes became hazy with remembrance. "After an encounter with Naruto, I began to see differently. He made me realize that bonds with other people are something to be cherished and protected even at the cost of one's life. If I had not met Naruto, I truly believe I would not be here now." He was of course remembering the confrontation with Akatsuki but not wanting to have to explain the organization as it would bring up Uchiha Itachi again, Gaara did not elaborate further. "Naruto showed me what true strength and happiness was…in his own loud and determined way of course. I have lived for the sake of my family, friends and village ever since."

Gaara paused enough for Mizuki to consider that she might be wrong in not trusting Naruto. But even as she thought of his face, she could barely suppress the shiver that went down her spine. Logical or no, she was afraid of him and his friends from the leaf village. She was suddenly feeling cold and as a result, almost didn't hear Gaara start to speak again.

"Naruto and Sasuke have always been rivals. But underneath that was an understanding and friendship so deep that it bordered on brotherhood. But Sasuke threw it away." Gaara's voice lowered menacingly. "Obsessed with defeating Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke lusted after power. When he felt his own growth as a powerful ninja was taking too long, he ran after and joined a truly evil being to gain power more quickly, leaving behind his village and his friends. Even though he would never admit it, Naruto was heartbroken. Sasuke represented one of his first bonds and he risked his life to get Sasuke back and keep that bond intact. Sasuke almost killed him…twice…for his troubles." Gaara heard Mizuki gasp but he continued anyway. "As someone who had to have the meaning of friendship beaten into him...literally, it infuriates me to see such a strong bond tossed away as if it were nothing but a sand fly at a picnic."

"But Sasuke is back with Naruto-san and the others now. So a reconciliation had to have happened at some point."

"When Sasuke went up against Itachi and failed to defeat him in a one on one battle, Naruto once again risked everything to rescue him. He was brought back to Konoha and quite easily fell back into his old role. Naruto forgave him his crimes with no hesitation, even though he was hurt so badly. It's infuriating to watch."

"I think I understand." Mizuki could understand where Gaara was coming from but, "If Naruto-san has forgiven Sasuke then Sasuke must have regretted his actions. So why do you still hate him?"

"I do not believe he has changed." Gaara said simply. "His actions since he came here have proven that his obsession is as strong as ever. Especially the way he treats you, as if you are nothing but a slab of walking information. It shows me that he is still the revenge fixated bastard who left his best friend for dead to further his own gains. He is not deserving of Naruto's friendship or trust. Nor mine."

They walked in silence for a little while after that, Gaara slowing down purposefully when he heard Mizuki's breathing becoming harsher.

"There is a public seating area with benches a little further up. We will rest there before heading back."

Mizuki wanted to argue but Gaara had a way of looking at you that brooked no argument. She smiled warmly at him instead. Like no one else she'd met since regaining consciousness in this unfamiliar world, she trusted Gaara. His solid as stone, stoic face didn't fool her for a second. His intentions and his heart were crystal clear. "A girl could fall for him easily." She thought as they reached the bench and sat down. "And I think whoever wins his heart is lucky indeed."

She took a deep breath but that only served in making her cough harshly. Gaara was anxious as he watched her bring her breathing under control again but tried to conceal his concern. He'd learned quickly that she didn't like people fawning over her like some invalid. She was strong and independent and he admired her for it, but he knew that her inner strength would only get her so far. She needed Konoha's Hokage to heal her completely.

Mizuki got over her coughing fit quickly enough and when she was sure she could talk again properly she said, "I think I know where you're coming from Gaara. Your friendship with Naruto means a lot to you and seeing him hurt makes you want revenge on the one who hurt him. But perhaps it's not that simple." Gaara just looked at her so she continued. "I don't know what happened between Sasuke and his brother," At Gaara's shocked look. "If Sasuke didn't want me to know about the connection then he shouldn't yell so loudly when right outside my room." She smiled grimly before continuing. "As I said, I don't know the whole story but what is pretty clear to me is that Sasuke is a loner, even now that he's back with Naruto and Sakura. I'm willing to bet he's always been that way. Never trusting anyone, always keeping them at an arm's length, seeing them as an annoyance, hating them and what he saw as their foolish dreams of peace and friendship, living only for himself and his revenge. It must have been a horrible and lonely way to live. A path of true darkness." She paused as she suddenly wondered why she was defending Sasuke to Gaara. It's not as though there was any love lost between herself and the vengeance-obsessed shinobi. But in her heart, she knew what she was saying was completely true and she somehow felt a need to make Gaara understand Sasuke a little more. She looked at Gaara but he was not looking at her. His eyes were wide as he heard what was essentially his own story told back to him.

"Mizuki does not know about the Uchiha clan or exactly why Sasuke desires revenge on Itachi. Yet she's read him...and myself so well. She's very perceptive. And she's also completely right." Gaara thought as he looked down at his hands, hands which had taken the lives of so many people, all because he'd been in so much pain from his loneliness that he couldn't see past his own nose. Sasuke had lost his entire clan, he must have felt pain too. Loneliness from which there was no escape. Until Naruto. That made the only difference between him and Sasuke the fact that Gaara needed no revenge. He recognized his own strength and therefore did not feel weakened by the light Naruto brought into his life. Sasuke must have doubted his own power and felt insecure about his ability to take revenge on his brother. It pushed him to seek power and thus into a darkness even Gaara had never known. "I think I may have misunderstood him a little." He thought amazed. He was amazed at the revelation but even more so that Mizuki had caused it all with just a few words, knowing nothing of the situation. He looked at her warm and smiling face wonderingly and thought, "Who is this girl?"

XXX

Naruto was silent for several minutes after Gaara finished his tale. They were still walking slowly towards Gaara's office and it crawled just as slowly towards them.

"I need to apologize to you Naruto." Gaara said quickly. "I know I haven't kept in contact as much I should have in the last few years. The truth is that I was so angry when I heard news about how you risked everything for Sasuke, I thought you were being foolish and I kept it all to myself. I guess I didn't learn the lesson very well after all."

He looked at Naruto, sure that he would be on the receiving end of a nasty look but Naruto was not looking at him. He was staring straight ahead and his eyes were sad. "I didn't know you felt that way Gaara. It never even occurred to me that you wouldn't be able to forgive Sasuke and that was the reason why you've been so cold with him. I knew everyone back home took a while to forgive him but I thought once Sakura and I had, everyone would. But now I know I was a fool to think that. You're not the one who didn't learn the lesson Gaara. I'm the one who still has things to learn." Naruto felt even more horrible now at how little he had been able to understand the person who was one of his best friends.

Gaara put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and when Naruto looked up, Gaara was smiling at him! "I suppose it's a good thing no one ever said we had to learn everything all at once." Naruto was wide eyed for a moment but smiled back.

They reached the building that housed Gaara's office just as Temari came running out of it with a frantic look on her face.

"Gaara! Naruto! We have to get back to the hospital quick! Uchiha Itachi is back and he's trying to kill Mizuki-chan!"

XXX

At the same time as Naruto and Gaara were having their talk, the others had started back to the hospital, Mizuki walking ahead of the other three, keeping a fair distance between them and herself. Sakura could hear the wheezing and gasps of her struggle for air but she did not slow down or show any other sign that she was having a hard time. "We have to get her back to Konoha soon." She thought worriedly. "But how is she going to be able to travel with us if she's so terrified of us?"

Sasuke looked after Mizuki's walking form bitterly. "Showing off like that is only going to make her condition worse and that will cause problems traveling back to Konoha." He sniffed in disgruntlement and tried to ignore the other thoughts that came to his mind. He did not like this girl in the slightest but like it or not, thinking about how scared stiff she'd been earlier worried him. Sakura had been right. It wasn't just him the girl was frightened of. "It's as though she's expecting at any moment for us to attack her. The craziest part is she doesn't even know why she's scared of us." He thought as he stalked behind Kakashi towards the hospital. "And why us and not Gaara?" That thought led to a whole other can of beans. Gaara had been different with him then. He hadn't spoken with a sneer or sarcasm. And the look he given Sasuke just before walking off with Naruto. "What on earth were they talking about when we found them?" Thinking about that made his mood even darker so that by the time he heard Mizuki cry out and Sakura yell Itachi's name, he was just plain pissed off.

He leapt in front of Mizuki who had fallen backwards to the ground in shock when Itachi had appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Kakashi was quickly beside him. Sasuke could not stifle a gasp. Itachi stood still before them still in his traditional Akatsuki garb and although he was looking right at Sasuke, his iris' had turned a milky white. Itachi was blind!

"Sasuke, I should have known you'd be here. This pathetic Sand Village never could handle its own crisis by itself. Always looking to the leaf village to bail them out. And aren't you glad you went back to them little brother? After all, the Jinchuuriki saving you yet again enabled us to see each other again. You must be very grateful to have such a 'powerful' friend." Stoic as ever, Itachi's expression did not change but his sightless eyes practically twinkled as the insult left his lips.

"Itachi…." Sasuke was so shocked by his appearance he could hardly form words. A sudden sharp pain burst from his left shoulder. He hissed it back. "How…why?" Was all he could growl out.

"Still as eloquent as ever I see. But I will answer your questions. You are wondering how I was able to find you and attack that girl there with my eyes in this state. After I failed to acquire your eyes in our little skirmish, six months was required for me to regain full use of my body although I heard your recovery took longer. In that endless time, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and others from Konoha ripped the Akatsuki to pieces and even managed to take out Pein thanks to that meddling Sannin Jirayia. The only one besides me to survive was of course my mentor Madara but he has disappeared to who knows where, licking his wounds and sulking no doubt." Bitterness flowed through Itachi's voice freely. "By the time my body healed enough to assist my fellow members, my eyes were dead and I was too late. Everything I'd worked so hard for years to accomplish was gone. But we Uchiha are nothing if not resourceful eh little brother? So I cut my losses and turned my efforts to finding a way to regain my eyesight. There were other ways than stealing your eyes, although that would of course have been the ideal. I searched and managed to find a way to keep a certain kind of sight even with my useless eyes, but the ultimate answer eluded me. Until three months ago, which incidentally leads me to the why part of your question." His voice dripped with malevolence as his seemingly sightless eyes moved over to where Sakura had Mizuki out of the way.

Mizuki, for her part, was standing just behind Sakura but instead of being terrified and hiding like Sasuke imagined she would be, she was looking at Itachi with just as much venom as his look favoured her with. "You." She practically spat out between wheezing breaths. "You're the one who attacked me. You've caused so much pain to everyone here and now you appear again and all you can do is spout meaningless drabble and insult Sasuke's strength? This is not a school yard fight between 8 year olds. Honestly considering what I've heard of you, I thought you would have some better material than that." Despite Sakura's warning, Mizuki's anger was strong and she took a step forward. "Why are you really here now? Haven't you done enough damage?"

Itachi looked straight at Mizuki and an evil grin crossed his face. "Still feisty, I always did admire that. But no actually, I have not done enough. I did attack you and I will continue to do so until I have what I need."

Mizuki's face became pale but she stood her ground. "And what the hell could you possibly need from me?"

"Amnesia is it?" Itachi shot back, his grin widening. "I'm not surprised. What I put you through was terrifying I'm sure. It only makes sense that you would block the memories. But you girl have exactly what I need to regain my power. And I will have it." He started to walk towards Mizuki whose courage began to falter under the gaze of the sightless yet somehow seeing eyes. Sakura moved in front of Mizuki again but while Itachi was still several feet away from her, he swung his right arm out in a wide arc. Glowing red chakra came off of his arm in waves, striking Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura and sending them flying. Sasuke hit the ground hard from the unexpected attack.

"Visible chakra from his arm! And from such a distance! What has he been doing these last three years?" Sasuke thought alarmed as Itachi continued to close the distance between himself and Mizuki. Seeing her shinobi protectors swatted away like so many flies evaporated Mizuki's anger and it was replaced by terror. She tried to back away but her legs failed her and she fell to the ground on her knees. Then as Sasuke struggled to get his footing back, he saw something that made his shoulder radiate pain like it hadn't in a long time. Itachi stopped in his tracks and stared into Mizuki's eyes. She could not look away. Within seconds, her eyes had gone blank and a few seconds later, she let out a heart wrenching scream and clutched at her chest as she coughed up a fair amount of blood. "He's doing it again. He's put her in the genjutsu again! Sakura!" He called as he struggled to stand up. "Release her now! I'll deal with Itachi." Willing the curse mark to shut its ravings, he ran forward just as another wave of chakra came flying at him. He drew his sword and, charging it with a Chidori, reflected the chakra right back at Itachi. It looked for a second as if he wouldn't be able to dodge it but at the last moment he jumped high and out of the way and the energy hit the ground, blowing a not insignificant crater into the sandy soil. Sasuke charged again but Itachi flicked a finger and a wall of chakra sprung up in front of him. Sasuke couldn't avoid it at his speed and ran full into the wall, yelling as the chakra surged in his body like electricity. Sasuke fell to the ground breathing hard. He glared at his brother. "He's different than before. Sight or no sight he's become even more powerful over the last few years. At this moment, I can't defeat him by myself. At least it was enough." He looked to where Sakura was tending to Mizuki. His attack had distracted Itachi allowing Sakura to reach Mizuki and release her from the genjutsu. Mizuki collapsed unconscious in Sakura's arms. Realizing the ploy, Itachi turned back to the kunoichi and her charge.

"You are Sakura." He said and Sakura noticed that he was squinting as though his eyes were causing him pain. "You have the power to release my Tsukuyomi? I must say I'm impressed. There are very few who can. However that makes you an unallowable annoyance to me. Forgive me." He broke into a run towards Sakura and the helpless Mizuki and swung his arm. The red chakra flew towards them in a wave…

And hit a wall of sand!

"You leave Sakura-chan the hell alone you BASTARD!" came the bellow from the blonde spiky-haired ninja as he leapt over the sand wall. His fury at seeing Sakura threatened was such that his eyes had turned a molten shade of red and his pupils were mere slits. He yelled his rage and before Itachi had a chance to react, Naruto landed a kick expertly to his chest! Itachi stumbled backwards clutching the spot of the impact. He gave Naruto a glare of intense hatred but then without another word, his hands became a flurry of signs and he vanished!

The wall of sand collapsed and Naruto ran to Sakura where she sat on the ground holding Mizuki. By the time he reached her, his eyes were their normal shade of bright blue.

"Sakura-chan are you alright?" He yelled as he skidded to a halt and dropped to his knees in front of her. In the same movement he scooped Mizuki up in his arms. Sakura stood up and brushed herself off.

"I'm fine Naruto but we must get Mizuki-chan back to the hospital on the double!"

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled as he reached his friends. He wanted to make sure Sakura was okay but his attention was diverted by what he had seen and heard his older brother say and do. He looked at Mizuki laying unconscious in Naruto's arms. There was blood on her chin and she was breathing very shallowly. He looked to Sakura but instead of what he planned to ask, out came, "She'll be alright won't she Sakura?" He managed to stifle the shocked look he knew he was about to make.

Sakura looked at him for a moment but looked away just as quickly. "We have to go now Naruto!" Naruto nodded and the two leapt off in the direction of the hospital which fortunately was not far away.

Sasuke heard footsteps behind him and saw Gaara and Temari approaching Kakashi. The look in Gaara's eyes was positively dangerous. Kakashi began to explain what had happened but Sasuke was in no mood to deal with Gaara's contempt at his being incapable of protecting Mizuki. He leapt off to the hospital after Sakura and Naruto.

When Mizuki opened her eyes she had the sensation of moving quickly. Her vision still hazy, she thought at first that she was dreaming. It had to be a dream because she'd never felt so safe. She was being held by something strong and warm and she could hear a heartbeat close to her ear. She forced her eyes open a little more and tried to swallow. She tasted blood which scared her and a small moan escaped her.

"It's alright, I've got you." A soft voice she recognized but could not place sounded from somewhere above her. She wanted to know who was holding her but her eyes would not focus. The voice continued to speak in a soothing tone but she could no longer understand what was being said. Her eyes were heavy and it was taking all of her effort just to draw enough breath. But she was no longer frightened. Whoever had her, she knew she would be safe with those strong arms protecting her so she closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her.

A/N: Itachi finally makes an appearance! What were Itachi and Mizuki to each other and why on earth is he determined to make her suffer like this? Put the kiddies to bed and grab the popcorn! Another chapter is following soon after these messages!

But seriously, I wanted to make stubborn a very big part of Mizuki's personality, it's pretty much the only way she's going to survive being around Sasuke. :) Will they be the pairing of the story? Or perhaps Naruto and Mizuki? Or Naruto and Sakura? Sasuke and Sakura? I still have no idea who's gonna end up with who, guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out! As always, reviews and suggestions are welcome. Have a great day!


	5. Conversations

Disclaimer: Not that it should be necessary but I want to shout to the world that I do not own Naruto, Naruto: Shippuuden or any of the characters contained therein. I just abuse said characters as I see fit ;)

Chapter 5

Conversations

When Mizuki next opened her eyes she could feel something incredibly soft and cool underneath her. The metallic taste of blood was still in her mouth and she swallowed reflexively to get rid of it. Content with feeding her meaningless jumbled images and sounds, her brain now had to contend with her consciousness and was scrambling madly trying to arrange those images and sounds so they made sense. The result was making her head pound. She decided not to focus too hard on what had happened and instead focus on where she was and her condition. She could hear faint voices hovering somewhere above her and she strained to listen.

"How's your side now Sakura-chan?"

"Don't change the subject! You have to be more careful! The seal has weakened even more over the last few years and the more angry you get…"

"Well what did you really expect Sakura-chan? He was about to kill you! Was I not supposed to get angry? Besides, my training over the last few years has given me better control. 'That' incident will never happen again."

"I saw your eyes Naruto. They haven't been that red in a long time. You can't afford to let that power out anymore, not even for me. Do you think I want to be responsible for that?"

"But it's because it's for you Sakura-chan that I can…"

"I think she's coming around. Mizuki-chan can you hear me?"

Mizuki tried to answer but her breath escaped her. She tried taking a deep breath but only got half way when pain hit her chest and she suddenly got the sensation of trying to breath underwater. Fear flooded her veins but she forced it back and blinked a few times, trying to bring her surroundings into focus. The first thing she saw was a pair of clear blue eyes almost directly over hers. Blinking a few more times, the world gradually became more centred.

"Naruto…san?"

"Naruto give her some breathing room would you? I need room to work with too you know." Sakura's voice reached Mizuki and she tried to turn her head in Sakura's direction. "Just lie still Mizuki-chan. You're not in danger anymore but I've still got some work to do on your lungs. Try and sleep some more okay?" Mizuki felt a blessedly cool hand on her forehead.

"Gaara…"

"He's right outside with the others. Just rest." Sakura's voice was soft until, "For God's sake, Naruto you're in the way! You know she's awake and going to be fine now so get the heck out before I throw you right back to Konoha!" was said at a much higher volume.

"Hmph, probably could too with that super-human strength of yours." Was the mumbled reply.

"Who are you calling a super-human freak of nature!"

"No one said anything like that!"

"OUT!"

Mizuki didn't realize it but she drifted back into sleep with a smile on her face.

Naruto looked once more at Mizuki lying on the hospital bed and walked out the door, quietly shutting it behind him. The others were indeed standing together talking and Naruto put a finger to his lips and said, "Mizuki-chan's trying to sleep so we should be quiet."

Sasuke and Kakashi sighed and shook their heads at exactly the same time having heard all too well what a good job he'd done being quiet earlier. Gaara just stared at Naruto.

"I take it she'll be fine then?" Kakashi spoke up.

"Yeah Sakura-chan's finishing patching her up now. She still wants to leave tomorrow for Konoha. This second bout with the Mangekyou Sharingan was brief but it made her lungs worse so the sooner we get her back to Tsunade no ba-chan the better." Naruto looked at Sasuke who, from the look on his face was really bothered by what was happening. "Have you been able to make any sense of what Itachi was saying Sasuke?"

"Not really. It's clear Itachi is still out to save his eyesight. It's also clear that although he claims to have some sight left, using his eyes still causes great strain on his body. Your being able to land a kick on him at all shows that he was being affected by it. I noticed that his reaction time went right down as well after he tried putting Mizuki back under the Tsukuyomi. Despite his tough act, he's not doing as well as he'd have us believe. But we still can't underestimate him. He's gotten a lot stronger in the last few years, despite his handicap."

"Well it's not like we've been sitting around on our asses for the last three years Sasuke." Naruto said annoyed. Sasuke ignored him and continued.

"I can't figure out what the girl has to do with any of this. She's not an Uchiha and she hasn't even got chakra that we can see much less a Sharingan. Itachi told me that it was a destiny that two Uchiha brother's shared for one to be replacement eyes for the other. I don't understand how she would be able to help Itachi regain his eyesight."

"He said there were ways other than stealing your eyes Sasuke and also that Mizuki-chan was special…that she had what he needed." Kakashi interrupted. "Could that have to do with her seeming to have no chakra?"

"That's more than likely." Gaara added his two cents. "But how is torturing her through Genjutsu going to get the Uchiha his eyesight back?"

No one had an answer to that. They were still silent in their own thoughts when Sakura emerged. "She'll be fine." She spoke up before anyone could ask. "I was able to repair most of this recent damage so Mizuki-chan will still be able to travel tomorrow. I'm anxious to get her back to Tsunade-sama."

"When he placed her under the Genjutsu this time Sakura, did she remember anything at all?" Kakashi asked.

"She said she recalls disconnected images that aren't making a lot of sense. After she rests some, she may regain some sagacity."

"We should not leave her unattended." Gaara said. "If he had the brazenness to show up in the middle of the village during broad daylight, he could come back tonight."

"I don't think that's likely." Kakashi and Sasuke said at almost the same time. Sasuke continued. "Using the Mangekyou Sharingan always put a strain on the body and now it seems as though it's even worse for him. It's probable that we won't see him for a few days. But you're right. For him to come out like this and attack us in broad daylight…he's either gone insane or getting desperate."

"I vote for both." Naruto said with a grunt.

"That'll make traveling a lot easier on everyone. But we still shouldn't take any chances." Sakura sighed and stretched her back. She looked exhausted. "Okay why don't you guys go prepare for tomorrow morning. I'll go watch over Mizuki-chan."

"Wait Sakura I'll…." Sasuke began.

"I'll do it Sakura-chan." Naruto broke in before Sasuke could finish. "You've done enough for now. You need rest too. I'll look after her. Someone can spell me for a while at dinner." And he walked into the room and shut the door without another word.

Everyone stared at the door for a moment in astonishment then Kakashi said stoically, "Alright then. Shall we get going?" And he walked off down the hall.

XXX

Day had turned into a musky twilight when Sasuke entered Mizuki's room. Naruto was sitting comfortably in a chair by the bed and looking towards the window where Mizuki stood with her back to him. His eyes lit up at the sight of the food tray that Sasuke was carrying. "That looks awesome Sasuke I'm starving!"

"This isn't for you dobe. It's for the g…it's for Mizuki. You can go eat with the others. I'll stay with her for a while."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Naruto said looking at Mizuki.

"It's alright Naruto-san. Go eat, you deserve a break from having to entertain me all afternoon." Mizuki spoke up. Sasuke looked at her where she was standing looking out the window. She turned to give Naruto a reassuring smile and Sasuke was involuntarily struck again by how strong she seemed. It was obvious that Naruto had made her laugh not long before he had come in, her cheeks were bright pink and her eyes, although still full of fear and mistrust, were twinkling. She coughed a few times and Sasuke could hear her ragged breathing but she either wasn't bothered by it, or wasn't letting herself be bothered by it. He had a feeling it was the latter and found himself looking away from her quickly although he couldn't explain to himself why.

"Don't be silly Mizuki-chan it was great being able to talk with you for a while." Naruto said as he stood up. She favoured him with a bright smile but it disappeared as she looked to Sasuke almost expectantly. Naruto looked from Mizuki to Sasuke like they were two rabid tigers he was about to leave locked in room together. "Alright I'll be back later." As he passed Sasuke he said quietly, "Be nice teme." And then he left.

"Whatever." Sasuke placed the tray on the side table and sat down in the chair. Mizuki turned and faced the window once more and did not move. Silence stretched out for a few minutes and Sasuke was just beginning to regret his decision to play bodyguard when Mizuki finally turned and looked at him.

Mizuki regarded her would-be protector for a moment with a vague sense of curiosity. She had been utterly terrified of him when his eyes had turned that menacing shade of red and black that was only familiar to her in the farthest depths of her closed off memory. But seeing him sitting there just a few feet away from her, she could tell right away that he was a completely different person than the one who had hurt her. His dark hair fell into his even darker eyes. Eyes that when not the shade of what Sakura had called the Sharingan, seemed empty and pained. "He's the polar opposite of Naruto." She thought. "How the hell are those two friends?" She realized that knew next to nothing about Sasuke and yet she found herself almost upset at his apathy towards her. Perhaps it was because the other leaf shinobi acted so concerned that she noticed his aloof attitude but it bothered her just the same. "No that's not it." She thought. "This attitude seems feigned. It just doesn't feel like it's really him." She had no idea where this feeling was coming from but she trusted it.

Sasuke met Mizuki's gaze with his own appraising look. Wearing the standard issue Sand village hospital garments (which were an unflattering shade of grey and very baggy) should have made her look pale and sickly but the energy he saw in her warm brown eyes completely overshadowed her drab clothes. She looked strong and full of life so Sasuke was almost surprised when he saw the same look in her eyes as before. A mixture of fear, vague anger and disappointment all directed at him. He didn't understand it but he was determined to not look away from her this time though so they stared at each other challengingly for several seconds until Mizuki finally looked away and chuckled slightly. "That's okay. It's not as though I was actually expecting we would become friends anyway." She walked over to the bed, sat down and started nibbling at her dinner.

"You don't trust me. I know that."

"Not in the slightest. I know I've been about as subtle as a brick wall about it but if it makes you feel any better it's not just you. I don't trust any of them." She said matter of factly as she bit into a sandwich.

"But you don't know why."

"Nope." She answered flippantly enough but her eyes flashed with annoyance.

"I understand why you don't like me but Sakura and Naruto have been nothing but caring and sincere to you."

"You understand why I don't like you do you?" Mizuki paused just before taking another bite and gave Sasuke a fierce look. She looked like she wanted to say something else about it but suddenly switched topics. "Sticking up for your friends huh? That's pretty admirable coming from you." It was Sasuke's turn to look annoyed. He suddenly had a good idea what Gaara and Mizuki had been talking about. Mizuki correctly interpreted his look and relented. "I'm sorry. That was a low blow, even for me. Look, I'm extremely grateful for what Sakura-san did for me. I know I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for her. I've learned enough talking to Naruto-san for the last few hours to know he's a really loud, really obnoxious, really great person. And believe it or not, I actually defended you to Gaara during our talk earlier when he was determined to hate you for the way you hurt Naruto some years ago. I have no personal grudge against any of you but for some reason I have yet to understand, I'm afraid you'll hurt me and so I can't trust you. I could be wrong, I hope I am but until I get my memory back I have to trust my feelings. At this point, they're really all I have left."

Sasuke was quiet for several moments. That was the reason Gaara had been treating him so coldly? He was still angry over Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru? And she had defended him. Was that why Gaara was no longer speaking to him with contempt in his voice? He wanted to ask exactly what they'd talked about but Mizuki stood up at that point and walked back over to the window. She was purposely not looking at him but he could see her reflection in the glass. Silent tears coursed down her face.

"Mizuki, are you alright?" Sasuke stood up but she waved a hand at him so he sat back down. She sniffed a few times before turning around with a smile on her face.

"Yeah I'm okay." She sat back down and took another bite of her sandwich. She looked like she was enjoying it as much as she would a piece of plaster and she couldn't stop a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Do you want me to get Gaara?" Sasuke was getting really uncomfortable now. He wasn't great with the whole emotions thing to begin with and to be faced with this crying girl who he didn't like was making the room seem rather claustrophobic.

"No he doesn't need to see this." She sniffed again and wiped her eyes.

"Oh and I get to? Wonderful." Sasuke thought to himself sourly. He really should have listened to Sakura and let her come up. He couldn't even remember why he had volunteered in the first place.

Mizuki must have seen the look on his face because she smiled grimly. "I'm sorry Sasuke. These tears have been threatening for a while now and I've tried so hard to keep anyone from seeing them. But I haven't had a moment alone since I woke up here and I guess I couldn't keep them hidden forever."

"It's alright." Sasuke said as he purposely found an interesting mark on the wall behind them. "It's not like I blame you. I know what he's capable of and I can only imagine how much it hurts."

"He knows me you know." She said and Sasuke looked at her sharply. "I was thinking about what he said earlier. That I was still feisty and that he always admired that in me. It implies he's known me for some time."

Sasuke just stared as he thought back to the encounter. "You're right. He did say that."

"And the second time he put me in that…thing that you…"

"Genjutsu."

"Whatever." She said irritated. "I completely understand what it is now." She shuddered involuntarily. "I still can't remember what happened last time and I can't remember exactly what happened this time but I get pictures that flash in my mind. Dark, frightening faces floating in red darkness that I can't recognize and always the feeling of being trapped, unable to move."

"As if you were tied down." Sasuke said what he knew she couldn't. She nodded gravely at him. "If you're right then it's unlikely he just accosted you one day thinking you might have what it takes to heal his eyes. He'd probably known about you for a while and either he captured you just recently when he was ready to do whatever it is he wants to do or it's even possible he approached you a while ago and gave the pretence of friendship. He may have even pretended to be a poor beggar with bad eyes or something to gain sympathy from you, to gain your trust. Then when he had you right where he wanted you…" Sasuke looked off into space as his brain fought with this new info.

"But why here? Why out in the open where someone like Gaara could find me? Why not just complete what he was going to do somewhere private where he couldn't be disturbed?" The tone with which she asked that question showed that it had been on her mind for some time.

"It's lucky for you he didn't. Although the thought's crossed our minds more than once. It's almost as if he intended for you to be found by Gaara."

"Because he knew that Gaara would send for your team?"

"Perhaps but I don't know."

"You know, if Itachi has known me for a while and…well it's not a secret he hates you guys…let's say for arguments sake that I did trust him at some point. Could it be that he told me bad things about you that I can't remember but are still there subconsciously? Could that be why I can't bring myself to trust you?"

"It's possible…" Sasuke paused as a particularly disturbing thought suddenly entered his mind. He didn't want the extremely perceptive Mizuki to pick up that something was wrong so he shook it off quickly and continued. "But whether or not he did the effect remains the same. I can't make you trust me Mizuki. All I can say is that I have no intention of harming you. We were sent here to find and capture Itachi if we can and to help you. It's my job and that's what I'm going to do. Whether you like it or not really."

"Your job huh?" Mizuki's eyes had dried completely and she now regarded him with a smug look. "Well don't I feel special?"

Sasuke looked shocked for a moment and then threw his own smug look back at her. "You know, I really don't think I like you at all."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh stop you're breaking my heart."

Sasuke was ready with a retort but a knock at the door silenced him. Gaara entered the room followed by Sakura, Naruto and Kankurou.

"Everyone still alive in here?" Naruto called out from the back of the line.

"You won't be in another few seconds you keep that up." Mizuki called back with a smug smile. As everyone entered and began chatting, Sasuke silently stood up and just as silently left the room. He closed the door behind him and started off down the hall. His head was swimming with several different thoughts.

Mizuki's wit was as sharp as his own. Extremely reluctantly, Sasuke realized he did hold some respect for this weird girl. She could definitely hold her own. But that was overshadowed by the disturbing idea he'd gotten. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense and the colder he felt.

"That bastard. God I hope I'm wrong."

A/N: Two chaps in one day! You lucky people you! Okay I know this is a really lame title for a chapter but I've never been good at titles. So sue me :) This chapter is a lot shorter than the others but it's mainly to show some development between the main characters and their relationships (or lack thereof as seems to be the case of Sasuke and Mizuki) Also I figured everyone would enjoy something under 5000 words this time :) Thanks so much for reading! Have a great week!


	6. Return To Konoha

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's incarnations. If I did you could bet that some things that happen later in the manga would be happening quite differently. :p

Chapter 6

Return To Konoha

The next morning dawned clear and bright over the hidden sand village. The sun shone a path through the entrance to the village and straight into Mizuki's hospital room where she was finishing the last of her breakfast while going through her traveling supplies with Sakura. In contrast to the day's bright greeting, Mizuki's demeanor was positively stormy. Frightening enough to not have any idea who she was or what had happened to her, she now had to leave the safety of the place where dwelled the only person she trusted in favour of traveling with people who, her instincts practically screamed at her, were only going to get her hurt. She felt as though all the strength she had summoned so far during these last truly strange days was leaving her with every item she packed. Her only comfort was that she knew Gaara trusted them. If he trusted them, she thought she could be strong for a little while longer.

She zipped her pack and slung it over her shoulders and Sakura did the same. "How's your breathing Mizuki-chan?"

"I'll live." She replied rather subdued. Sakura nodded in understanding.

"Shall we go then?" They made it to the door when a knock was heard upon it. It opened before they could say anything and Gaara entered. Sakura saw the look on his face and said, "Um…I'll wait for you downstairs okay Mizuki-chan?" And she left.

Gaara stood motionless before Mizuki. He looked like he was having a very hard time finding the words he wanted. But Mizuki didn't have to be incredibly perceptive to understand. Without a word, she crossed the space between them and threw her arms around his neck. She felt him hesitate but then his arms enfolded her and he hugged her so tight she could feel her breathing restrict much more but she didn't care. As far as she and her screwed up memory was concerned at that moment, she was leaving her only friend. Her face pressed against his neck, she barely managed to whisper, "Thank you."

Reluctantly, Gaara released her and stood back. He could see the tears hiding behind the smile she forced into her eyes and he was amazed to find that the strange, uncomfortable feeling had come over his heart again. It had been with him for a few days now, ever since he had first pried her hands away from her face and looked into her terrified yet warm eyes. It felt like years ago. He hadn't felt it in so long he was almost willing to believe he was imagining it. She reminded him so much of Matsuri. Her smile, her laugh and the way she always said exactly what was on her mind. He didn't say anything but he reached into a pocket and held out a small corked bottle with sand in it. He took it and placed it in Mizuki's hand.

"This sand is special. It is infused with my chakra and therefore with my will. If you are in trouble, open the bottle and it will protect you. Because it is my will to protect you." He paused. "I am sure Naruto and his friends will help you regain your memory and find your home. But when they do…if you wanted to…you could…"

"Can I come back?" She blurted out what she knew Gaara couldn't say. "When this wonderful enigma that is me has been sorted out I mean…I'd like to visit again one day."

"I would like that very much."

Mizuki nodded and smiled with renewed energy. "Then I should get going. After all, the sooner I get fixed up, the sooner I can come back." She walked over to the door and opened it. She turned back and gave Gaara an impatient look to follow her.

Gaara just shook his head with a small smile. He really was going to miss her.

XXX

A few hours later, the effects of her heartwarming adieu with Gaara had worn off and Mizuki was feeling nervous and moody again. She was determined not to reveal her nervousness to the others, especially Sasuke so she pushed herself on, keeping up with the others and even getting ahead of them, despite the feeling that her lungs were becoming the consistency of sandpaper. Sakura wanted to stop her from pushing herself so hard but Kakashi stopped Sakura from saying anything. "It's what she needs to do right now. We'll just have to stop for a break sooner that's all."

But Mizuki surprised them all. She kept her pace up until well after the lunch hour though when they finally did stop, she could not keep silent her small gasps for air.

"And how long do you intend to keep this up?" Sasuke asked taking a sip from his canteen.

"I don't believe I know what you're talking about." She answered back flippantly.

"You're going to end up making your condition even worse if you don't take it easy." He lectured her.

"Aww Sasuke I didn't know you cared." Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"I'm concerned that you'll slow us down even more. It's already going to take us almost twice as long to reach Konoha as it would usually." He shot back.

"What, you got a hot date you're gonna miss then?"

Sasuke glared at her and Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi sighed in unison. "And here I thought that she and Sasuke would finally start to get along." Naruto thought as he watched the strangely comical and yet really not funny exchange happening before him. Mizuki had told them all the conversation she'd had with Sasuke yesterday after he had suddenly disappeared from her room. It had sounded like they were finally able to talk without irritating each other. "Huh, must have been a fluke. I guess they really can't be friends." Naruto found however that he wasn't really upset about that. On the contrary, for reasons he couldn't quite explain to himself, he was glad that Sasuke and Mizuki didn't get along. Watching Mizuki verbally wail on Sasuke, he was reminded of the conversation he'd had with her yesterday.

XXX

Mizuki sat straight up as Naruto walked purposefully into the room, closed the door behind him and sat down in the chair. "What is it Naruto-san?"

"Nothing I'm just here to keep you company for a while that's all." He answered and settled himself comfortably in the chair, resting his feet on the edge of Mizuki's bed.

She looked at his feet with an eyebrow raised for a moment but then found herself smiling. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, but out of all of the leaf ninja's, she'd found him the easiest to tolerate. He had a way of making her drop her guard without her even knowing it.

"Comfortable?"

"Very."

"Oh I'm glad." Resigned with having what Sakura had termed 'the world's number one hyperactive, knuckleheaded ninja' as company for the next while, Mizuki sat back against her pillows and said, "So who did you tick off to get stuck with guard duty?"

"I volunteered actually. Sakura-chan was really tired after healing you, Gaara and Kakashi-sensei had work to do and I know you don't want to be in the same room as Sasuke so that left me."

"My condolences."

Naruto regarded her quizzically for a moment. "You are a really weird girl aren't you?"

"You should be careful Naruto-san, you could turn a girl's head with talk like that."

"Huh?" Naruto looked at Mizuki confused momentarily before realizing she was being sarcastic and shaking his head. "Hmph. You may not like him much but you're just like Sasuke you know that?"

"There's no need to be insulting now."

Naruto smiled. "Sorry but it's true. He's sarcastic like that. Always has been. I never understood it coming from him either."

"That just makes you an easier target that's all." She smiled smugly at him. "I'll probably be able to have a lot of fun at your expense."

"Join the club." Naruto groaned but he was smiling as he did it. Mizuki once again felt her defenses begin to dissolve.

"Just like the first time he spoke to me." She thought as she watched Naruto get up to get a glass of water. "I was terrified of him but with one sentence he was able to make me smile. I hadn't even realized I'd done it until it was too late. What it is about him?" Naruto brought her a glass as well and sat back down.

"So I know you're worried about tomorrow and leaving here but from what Sasuke said, Itachi should be out of it for a while so we shouldn't have to worry about him."

"Sakura-san said something to that effect earlier as well. But I'm not really worried about Itachi." She played with the glass in her hands as she searched for the right words. "I don't know how to explain it but my fear of leaving tomorrow doesn't really have anything to do with the thought that he might attack again."

Naruto's eyes clouded over. "You still don't trust us? Even after we saved you from Itachi?"

Mizuki shook her head. She was beginning to feel somewhat ashamed of her feelings of mistrust, at least where Naruto was concerned, but she couldn't help how she felt. "It's not personal Naruto-san. I wish I could explain to you what it feels like. It's like, with Itachi, I know he's after my life for some reason and even though I don't know exactly when he'll come after me again I know he will come after me so at least I can try to prepare myself. But with you guys…to be honest, I can't quite figure out what to expect."

"I think I understand a little." Naruto said slowly.

"Frankly, the only reason I'm going to be able to leave with you tomorrow is because I know Gaara trusts you completely. Especially you Naruto-san. Gaara holds you in really high esteem. As far as he's concerned, you changed his life. But even knowing that, I just can't make these feelings go away."

Naruto seemed to study his hands for several seconds and did not look at Mizuki. She thought she could see a serious frown on his face. Just before she could say anything though he looked right at her with a bright smile on his face.

"Well if you can't take Gaara's word for it then I'll just have to work harder. I'll make you trust me if it's the last thing I do." He grinned mischievously. Mizuki felt herself smiling again, almost against her will, but her heart was troubled.

"For a second there, I thought I'd seriously hurt his feelings." She thought as he did a 180 and started going on about Konoha and how much he knew she would love Ichiraku Ramen. "But I guess I was wrong."

XXX

"Are we going to have to listen to this the whole way home?" Sakura finally yelled in exasperation, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. Kakashi eyes flicked up from his book at Sakura's outburst and both Sasuke and Mizuki stopped fighting immediately and looked at Sakura.

"Sorry Sakura-san." Mizuki said sheepishly.

"Whatever." Was Sasuke's reply.

"And on that cue," Kakashi put his book away and stood up. "I think it's time we got going. We have a lot of ground to cover before dark. Mizuki-chan, please don't be afraid to tell us we're going too fast. If you wear yourself out too quickly before we're ready to camp for the night, we'll have to carry you."

"Huh, like that'll happen." She murmured as she grabbed her bag and followed Sasuke's already retreating form.

Two hours later…

"I'm really sorry about this Naruto-san."

"It's no problem at all Mizuki-chan. You're as light as a feather."

"Well I highly doubt that but if it's working for you, by all means keep telling yourself that."

Naruto grinned as he heard Mizuki sigh and rest her head on his shoulder. Kakashi's prediction had come true just as they'd reached the border between the Wind and Fire countries. Mizuki had been keeping up a red hot pace despite her breathing troubles but had finally stumbled against a tree and it had taken several minutes for her to get her breathing under control again. After that, much to her extreme annoyance, Kakashi had insisted that she be carried until they reached the spot they were going to camp for the night. So she was now riding piggyback style on Naruto's back. The pro of this being that they could move a lot faster without having to wait for Mizuki, the con being that Mizuki felt like an idiot.

"Really, what was I thinking?" She said aloud without intending to.

"I know you feel the need to prove to us you're strong Mizuki-chan but I wouldn't worry about that. We all know how strong you are." Naruto replied having heard her.

"Of course you really meant to say stubborn right?" Mizuki mumbled.

"Well yeah that too. But you're determined not to let your injuries keep you down. I

admire that."

"You do?" She asked in real surprise.

"Of course." He answered simply and said no more.

Mizuki rested her head as comfortably as she could, which was hard considering it was against something that was constantly moving, and closed her eyes. She hated with a passion having to be carried like some invalid. But she was really glad it was Naruto doing the carrying.

It was after dark when the group finally stopped for the night. They had made much better time with Naruto carrying Mizuki and they made it to the small clearing where they had spent the second night on their trip to the Sand village. Mizuki was really glad to not be moving anymore; there was a reason Naruto was a human and not a horse and her muscles were complaining about the difference rather loudly. She heard Naruto sit down next to her by the fire but she was somewhat lost watching the dancing flames and did not notice Sakura's dark look when he did.

Contrary to Naruto, Sasuke had seated himself as far away from Mizuki as he could. He prepared himself for Sakura's stare-a-thon but she was practically scowling into the fire and occasionally shooting dark looks at Naruto. Kakashi was lost in his own little world once again reading his perverted novel. Sasuke sighed and looked to where Naruto had gained Mizuki's attention with a joke and they talked and laughed for a while. Mizuki made several sarcastic comments at Naruto; most of which went right over his head and Sasuke found himself fighting a smirk. He couldn't help it. When it came to teasing Naruto, the girl was pretty damn funny. Eventually Mizuki yawned and excused herself to her sleeping bag. Sakura went not long after and Naruto got up, walked over to where Sasuke was sitting and sat down next to him.

"Are you going to carry her all the way back to Konoha?" Sasuke asked in an undertone.

"Are you going to fight with her all the way back to Konoha?" Naruto countered just as quietly.

"There's no law saying I have to like her you know."

"And there's no law saying I have to hate her."

Sasuke was silent for several moments before saying, "She's so weird."

"You got that right." Naruto smiled. "Even Gaara couldn't figure her out and they became really good friends before we left. Maybe things will become clearer when she gets her memory back."

"Either that or they'll get more complicated." Sasuke said thinking about the disturbing theory that had formed in his mind the day before.

"I think you're just looking for problems Sasuke. I think you're looking for an excuse to hate her."

"I am not." Sasuke said glaring at Naruto who was grinning mischievously back at him. "She doesn't like me and believe me, the feeling is mutual. You can be friends with her all you want, I want nothing to do with it."

"I think I will thanks." Naruto stood up and brushed himself off. "Get some sleep tonight huh? The problem will still be there in the morning."

"Whatever." Sasuke said morosely. Just as Naruto turned to walk away he said quietly. "G'night dobe."

"Night teme." Naruto said without turning around. Sasuke couldn't hide a small smile as Naruto retreated to his sleeping bag in the darkness. As annoyed as he was with the weird girl and the current circumstances, he couldn't help but feel extremely thankful once again that he was fortunate to have friends such as these. He was still getting used to the feelings of affection for his friends and he still had trouble showing it even after all these years but that was the best part. Naruto just knew. Sasuke went to his sleeping bag and fell asleep quickly.

XXX

Mizuki insisted she felt fine the next morning but Sakura's concern about getting back to Konoha as quickly as possible together with Sasuke's insisting how nice it was not having to wait for her to keep up ended up with Mizuki once again riding horseback with Naruto. Mizuki buried her head against the rush of wind as Naruto sprinted and did not speak to anyone for the entire day, despite Naruto assuring her he was happy to do it.

When they stopped for the second night they were very close to Konoha and could have made it if they'd continued running into the night but Naruto carrying Mizuki all day had tired him out so they decided to save the last few miles for morning. Mizuki went straight to her sleeping bag without dinner or speaking to anyone. Sasuke huffed his own disgruntlement and went to his sleeping bag not long after. Naruto, who was the most tired out of all of them, waited up until Sakura and Kakashi had retired then silently crept over to where Mizuki was laying. He could tell by her breathing that she was still awake.

"You alright Mizuki-chan?" He sat down next to her but facing away, giving her the chance to pretend to be sleeping if that's what she really wanted.

There was nothing for several seconds and Naruto was just about to get up when out of the darkness came the bitter reply. "I'm nothing but a useless source of information to you aren't I? A nuisance who has to be taken care of until you can get what you want from me. And don't ask me where I'm getting it from either. The only reason Sasuke is in such a hurry is because he wants me to get my memory back so I can help him find his brother that he hates so much." At Naruto's small gasp, "Yeah I know Itachi is his brother, he didn't do a very good job of hiding it. Well what would you do if I did get my memory back and refused to help you find Itachi huh? Would you let Sasuke hurt me to get the information?"

Naruto was shocked by her accusation but he also noticed her tone and he understood what she was really trying to say. She desperately wanted to trust them but Sasuke was not making it easy at all and she was genuinely disappointed in his attitude towards her. But even though she claimed not to trust him still, Naruto was heartened by her last question. He knew she wasn't asking if he would let her be hurt, she was asking if he would protect her.

"Not at all." He said simply but he turned towards her and looked at her as he said it. She had turned towards him and raised into a half sitting position as she spoke. The fire had burned down to almost nothing but he could see the fear and anger alight in her eyes. She was as alone as any one person could be and badly needed someone to count on. Naruto was determined to be that person.

He leaned in as close as he dared and whispered intently, "You're not prepared to believe anything I say right now anyway Mizuki-chan but I am going to say this and I'm only going to say it once. I care very much about what happens to you and I promise you on my life that whether or not you get your memory back and whether or not we find Itachi I will not let anyone hurt you and I will help you find somewhere you belong, whether it's in Konoha, back in the Sand Village with Gaara or wherever it is you're really from. I want to help you get better but I won't be able to do anything for you if can't believe in me a little." His gaze was fierce when he started talking but it had softened by the time he finished. She didn't look away from his eyes the entire time he spoke and he knew she was appraising whether or not he was telling the truth. He saw her eyes become almost overwhelmed by emotion but she swallowed it back and turned on her side away from him.

"It's only a few miles to Konoha in the morning right?" Came the question so quiet he almost didn't hear it.

"Yeah, it should only take a few hours to get there."

"I don't want to be carried tomorrow Naruto. Even if it is you. I don't care how impatient that idiot is. I want to walk into your village."

Naruto smiled and was glad she couldn't see him do it. He understood. "Okay I won't carry you tomorrow. How about if I just walk beside you?"

She was quiet for several moments and he wasn't sure she would answer but she whispered, "That would be okay."

Naruto smiled and got to his feet. He started back towards his sleeping bag but whispered to Mizuki one more time. "Try not to be too hard on the teme over there eh? He's been through more than you can imagine. And believe it or not, he's better than he used to be."

XXX

Mizuki's mood was still dark the next morning even when Sasuke relented and agreed she could walk on her own the rest of the way to Konoha. She walked alongside Naruto in a gloomy silence. Every step closer to the Hidden Leaf Village was a step closer to her doom she could feel it. But once they cleared the surrounding forest and she set sight on the Village Hidden in the Leaves, she couldn't suppress a gasp.

"It's beautiful!" She gasped and despite her premonition of doom she found her pace quickening. She even passed Naruto in her haste to see more. The great gate towered above her and she could see several buildings stretching out before her. They seemed to be in a straight line aiming at a building that, she assumed, marked the centre of the village. It was larger than the others she could see and it was white with a red roof with a large kanji for fire on the front. And everywhere, dotted among the buildings were trees and plants of all kinds.

Mizuki was so taken by the beauty of the village she didn't hear Naruto call out for her to wait for them before passing through the great gates. She had barely taken two steps in when two figures appeared directly in front of her so quickly she was sure she hadn't even blinked. And before she could blink again, one of them had grabbed her and was holding her arms behind her so she could not move. Mizuki gasped in pain as her arm was twisted behind her and fought the rising panic she felt at being pinioned.

"Kotetsu-san, Izumo-san wait!" Naruto called as he ran into the village, the others close behind. Kakashi leapt over him and landed in front of the two guards.

"It's alright Kotetsu you can release her, she's with us." Kakashi said to the ninja holding Mizuki. He paused for a moment but relented. Mizuki pulled away from him with such force that she stumbled straight into Naruto who had caught up at that point. Naruto caught her by the shoulders and massaged her arms while Mizuki shot the two guard ninja's a look that was at the same time furious and sheepish. She remembered Kakashi explaining to her that she would have to enter the village with them and not on her own or, being a stranger and unannounced, she would be restrained.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-san. I forgot what you told me earlier." She said through hitching breaths. She stood up straight and tried to shake the feeling back into her arms. Or at least she would have if Naruto wasn't still holding her. "I'm alright Naruto-san." Naruto was looking at her concernedly but didn't seem to have heard her. When she said his name again he blinked at her as if just noticing she had spoken. He quickly let her go.

"It's alright Mizuki-chan. As long as you are unhurt." Kakashi said, taking note of how audible her breathing had become.

"I'm fine." She said straightening herself and looking at the guards annoyed.

"Sorry Kakashi-sempai but rules are rules." The one called Kotetsu said as Izumo walked back over to the booth they had previously occupied.

"It's no problem. We're just heading off to see Tsunade-sama about Mizuki-chan's health."

"Yes to think about it I remember getting a memo about that a couple of days ago." Kotetsu turned to Mizuki. "Sorry about that little lady. I hope I didn't hurt you too badly."

Sasuke felt himself wince internally before Mizuki even had time to register what Kotetsu had said. "Little lady?" She repeated, her eyes narrowing. Sasuke rushed forward and gave Mizuki a suggestive push.

"Come on Mizuki, we shouldn't keep Tsunade-sama waiting. This way. Come on Naruto." He grabbed Mizuki's arm and led her away towards the large building in the centre of the village.

Kotetsu scratched his head, clearly confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

XXX

Just as Sasuke was dragging a loudly protesting Mizuki away followed by an even more loudly protesting Naruto, a young Genin by the name of Konohamaru was running to the West training ground outside the West gate near the Hokage Mountain to meet his team. He was running really late and as a result he didn't notice the guards call hello to him. He also didn't see the shrouded figure hidden behind a clump of dense bushes just outside the gate. But he was on the path of a promising career as a shinobi and his senses picked up that someone was there. He skidded to a halt and looked back over his shoulder. The figure was barely discernable from the background as it did not move, it could have been mistaken for a rock if not for the slight but steady rise and fall of the shoulders as he/she drew breath and then exhaled.

Konohamaru was an expertly trained shinobi but he was still technically a kid. Instead of alerting the guards as he should have, he crept closer to the figure, concerned that it was someone in need of help.

He didn't even feel the dark veil close over his mind. His thoughts were crystal clear one second and the next, they were enclosed in pitch blackness. The only sense that seemed to be working was his hearing and all that registered was a soft, menacing voice whispering…whispering.

Konohamaru walked past the figure and proceeded several yards down the wall, away from the gate, until he reached an overgrown patch of bushes by an old sakura tree. Without a word he lifted the tangled branches aside, revealing a hole, long forgotten through the barrier.

Beneath the black hood, the figure smiled.

A/N: So we're finally back in Konoha. Will Mizuki get her memory back before Itachi gets to her? I know I listed romance as one of the categories and there hasn't been much really. All we've seen is that our favourite heroes have all been affected by the mysterious newcomer, all in different ways but now that we're back home things are going to get much more interesting, promise :) Thanks for reading!


	7. A Day Of Filler

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I wouldn't really want to. Guy's so full of energy he'd give me a headache :)

Chapter 7

A Day Of Filler :)

"I see. So that's how it is then." Tsunade sat back in her chair and sighed. She closed her eyes and laced her fingers together just as she always did when she was thinking hard. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were all standing before her desk. They had left Mizuki sitting with Shizune to look after her in the waiting area outside the spacious office, much to both of their annoyance. Kakashi had just finished relating all that had happened in the last several days and Tsunade was taking a moment to absorb it all.

"Alright!" Tsunade suddenly barked, opening her eyes and looking sternly at the ninja's in front of her. She pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing on it. "Naruto, you will take this and the girl to the hospital. Hand this to the medic on duty, I believe it's Hiro-sensei today. She's to be prepped for surgery, I will be along as soon as I have talked with Sakura about the best way to heal her. You may then take the rest of the day to rest. Kakashi, you will alert the Anbu and all the Jounin in the village to what I'm sure will be Uchiha Itachi's imminent attack on the girl. While she's here the village must be put on high alert. Sasuke, you have proven yourself to be equal to Itachi's strength. I want you to stay close to the girl. She may be here for some time while we attempt to recover her memory and every day she's here, brings us closer to a time when Itachi may attack."

Sasuke looked like he'd just eaten something sour. "You mean you want me to play bodyguard?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Tsunade asked slowly.

"Well Itachi has grown in strength these last few years. He has powers I've never seen before. I'm not sure I'm the right choice to protect Mizuki."

"A Sharingan is the only thing that is a match for another Sharingan. And Kakashi has work to do around the village. Your Sharingan and the fact that you fought him once before and held your own makes you the perfect choice to protect the girl, whether or not years have passed. Is that understood?"

"Yes Tsunade-sama." Sasuke said quietly.

"Regardless of this being a request from the sand village's Kazekage, it is in our best interests to have the girl here as a lure for Uchiha Itachi. Capture is our highest priority but if he leaves no other choice, eliminate him!"

"Tsunade-sama…" Sasuke began.

"I don't want to hear it Sasuke. You're mission while the girl is here is to guard her life. If I hear that you left her unprotected to go after your brother the consequences will be severe. Am I being clear?" Her voice had dropped to almost a whisper. Sasuke just glared at her. The others watched but wisely stayed quiet. This had not been the first argument between Sasuke and Tsunade about Itachi.

"Any other questions?" Tsunade asked suddenly looking at the entire group, taking Sasuke's silence as compliance.

The team shook their heads. "Very well, dismissed!" Everyone but Sakura turned to leave.

Mizuki was trying to alleviate her nervousness by chatting with Shizune but Tsunade's right hand was annoyed at being left out of the conversation and wasn't making for a good conversation partner. So Mizuki had taken to pacing back and forth, waiting for the leader of the village she hadn't even met yet to decide her fate. When the door to the office finally opened she jumped in surprise. Kakashi was the first to leave and as he passed by Mizuki, he paused to place a hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be fine Mizuki-chan." Then he left. Mizuki felt heartened until she saw Naruto and Sasuke come out. The looks on their faces said nothing was fine at all. Naruto saw her reaction to their expressions and he forced a big smile.

"Tsunade-no-ba-chan is going to fix you up over at the hospital. We're to go there ahead of her. It's this way." He pointed to where Sasuke was already almost out of sight. Mizuki sighed internally with relief for nothing else than it seemed that she wouldn't have to deal with Sasuke and his attitude anymore. Her relief was short lived however when she noticed that she and Naruto were following Sasuke's path.

"Does Sasuke live around here Naruto-san?" She asked although she felt she already knew the answer.

"No Sasuke lives in the east end of the village. He's coming to the hospital with us because Tsunade-no-ba-chan thinks he's the best choice to protect you while you're here."

"What about you?"

"Oh I'll be around don't you worry." He said lightheartedly enough but Mizuki could hear a slight trace of bitterness in his voice.

"Good. If I had to spend every day without someone to talk to I think I'd end up comatose and not just an amnesiac."

Naruto gave her a bright smile which she returned and they continued on. The hospital was not far from the Hokage's office and they were there in just a few minutes. When she and Naruto reached the entrance, they found Sasuke already there talking to another shinobi with long black hair and the strangest, most beautiful eyes Mizuki had ever seen.

"Oi Neji!" Naruto called out as they approached. Neji and Sasuke turned at the sound of Naruto's voice and Mizuki suddenly felt very self-conscious under Neji's stare.

"How's it going Neji?" Naruto said cheerfully as he reached the steps of the hospital.

"I just received word from Kakashi-sempai to meet you here at the hospital. Apparently there's something about our guest he'd like me to confirm." He looked at Mizuki appraisingly. She fought the blush she could feel forming on her cheeks.

"You're good? Hey that's great. I'm doing awesome thanks for asking! Sheesh lighten up." Naruto groaned and shook his head. Mizuki chuckled and even Sasuke smiled. They caught each other grinning and immediately looked in opposite directions, their smiles gone.

"He wants you to check her out with your Byakugan, Neji, to see if you can locate her chakra network." Sasuke said seriously. "But it can wait until we're settled inside the hospital. I don't like standing out in the open too obviously like this."

"Understood." Neji said turning to go into the hospital.

"If you say so Mr. Bodyguard." Naruto said cheekily. Sasuke glared at him and Mizuki quickly slipped between the two and into the hospital before the inevitable argument started. She caught up with Neji who had made it to the administration desk and was talking to the nurse in charge. He smiled at Mizuki when he saw her and she felt her face growing hot again.

"I did not have a chance to introduce myself. I am Hyuuga Neji. You're name is Mizuki?"

"For now." Mizuki answered with a smile.

"Yes I understand that you lost your memory after your first encounter with Uchiha Itachi."

"Unfortunately, or fortunately take your pick. I don't know which one to choose at this point."

"I'm friends with some of the anbu who will be working on regaining your memory after you're properly healed. They are highly skilled. It should not take them long to retrieve it."

"That'd be nice. But why are you looking for my…whatever it is they called it? Do you have the same ability as Sasuke?"

"No my eyes are quite different than Sasuke's. You'll see." He said quickly as Sasuke and Naruto finally entered the hospital looking rather peeved at each other.

Naruto walked up to the front desk and handed the nurse the note Tsunade had given him. She nodded and called an orderly over to show them to the room. They followed the orderly in silence and when they arrived, he asked Mizuki to change into the hospital gown and for everyone to leave.

"Just one moment please." Neji said and stepped toward Mizuki. "Excuse me Mizuki-chan." Mizuki's confusion was replaced by shock when he muttered "Byakugan!" All of a sudden his eyes were large and the veins around them were standing out from the strain. They remained that way for only a few seconds, then without a word, his eyes were back to normal. "Interesting." Was all he said.

"Well?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Sorry Sasuke. I've been told to report only to Tsunade-sama." He said almost smugly. Sasuke and Naruto huffed in annoyance. Neji turned to Mizuki again. "I hope you are feeling better soon Mizuki-chan. Please take care." He bowed and left.

"What the hell was that just now?" Mizuki said, still slightly shocked by what she had just seen.

Before Naruto could explain the orderly spoke up. "You can tell her later. Tsunade-sama will be here momentarily and we have to prep her for surgery. You will have to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere." Sasuke spoke up. "I'm to stay with her under Tsunade-sama's orders in case of attack."

"Then you can wait outside the room for now." The orderly's voice was growing harsher.

"Then let me know when she's ready." Sasuke said just as harshly and he left the room, followed closely by Naruto. They exited into the hallway and the door slammed behind them. They stood silent for a few minutes then Sasuke said, "You can go now Naruto. I've got things under control here."

"Not likely." Naruto said. "You may be the best choice to protect Mizuki-chan from Itachi but I'm the best choice to protect her from you. Besides, she's going to need a friendly face around when she wakes up."

"Suit yourself." Sasuke said simply. They were still waiting in the hallway when Tsunade and Sakura arrived.

"Is she ready yet?" Tsunade called out. As if waiting for her cue, the door opened and the orderly came out followed by Mizuki who's face almost matched the white hospital gown she was now dressed in. She bowed deeply to Tsunade.

"I spoke with Neji on my way in here. He had several interesting things to say about you Mizuki. It's going to be an interesting challenge healing you." She looked at Mizuki in the same appraising way as Neji had but coming from Tsunade, it was just frightening.

Mizuki could feel the blood drain from her face. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I'm causing you."

"Oh trouble indeed." Tsunade said, her voice growing hard. Beside her, Sakura just sighed. "Leaving this village open to attacks from one of the most powerful shinobi's of our time, not to mention all the time and manpower it's going to take to look after you."

"That's out of line you old hag!" Naruto immediately spat out as he stepped in front of Mizuki.

"Silence!" She yelled at Naruto. He immediately fell silent but glowered at her and she turned her attention back to Mizuki. She spoke again and said not unkindly, "Fortunately, this village is equal to any trouble you could possibly cause. And willing. As is evident by Naruto's outburst." She smiled briefly and then looked at Naruto. "Alright you. Out! You've earned your rest. You too Sasuke. There's not much you can do while she's in surgery. I'll send for you when I'm finished."

"I'm not leaving." Naruto said simply. Sakura stared at him for a moment then turned to Sasuke.

"And you?"

"I've been charged with protecting her haven't I? And even if my charge is annoying, I take it seriously." He looked at Naruto. "I'm not leaving either."

Tsunade's annoyance was only outmatched by Sakura's. "Fine!" Tsunade barked. "Go to the waiting room and wait for us there." She stalked off down the hall.

Sakura took Mizuki's arm gently. "It'll be over before you know it Mizuki-chan." She smiled and led Mizuki away.

"I'll be here when you wake up Mizuki-chan don't worry." Naruto called out after her. "Do your best!"

Mizuki favoured him with a troubled smile before disappearing down the hall with Sakura.

XXX

Three days later, the strange girl with no memory and no chakra was the talk of Konoha. (Nothing ever remains a secret for long with Naruto in possession of it.) The girl herself was still in the hospital recovering from the surgery that successfully healed her lungs and any leftover damage done by Itachi. Recovering quite rapidly in fact.

"It's so strange." Sakura murmured quietly as she poured over the latest dusty volume she had pulled from the library in an attempt to research any other incident of a human being not having any chakra. It had taken her and Tsunade a full day and a half to recover themselves from the strain of healing Mizuki. Sakura had never felt a drain on her reserves like it. She literally could not stand after the operation was finished. Tsunade, although still standing, was pale and leaning heavily on Shizune for support.

"Life doesn't exist without chakra." Sakura murmured to herself. "Chakra is the result of a mixture of stamina and spiritual energy. We know Mizuki has stamina. At the rate she's healing she may have even more stamina than Naruto. Which should be impossible considering that all of Naruto's incredible stamina comes from the Kyuubi living inside him. Why is having no chakra healing her so quickly?"

"Sakura?" A voice suddenly sounded beside her so quietly it made her jump right out of her chair.

"Ino! You scared the hell out of me what are you doing?"

Ino was laughing freely at her friend's expression. "I called your name several times billboard brow but you were so absorbed in that ancient book you didn't hear me."

"What was that Ino pig?" Sakura said back dangerously. Sakura and Ino had been very close friends when they were little but a rivalry over Sasuke had sprouted between them and they had spent much of their ninja careers trying to outdo each other in everything. Even after acknowledging each other's power during the Chuunin exams and solidifying their friendship once more, they couldn't get past their usual insults to each other. Although much of their anger was now a façade for old times sake.

"What are you doing anyway?" Ino came up beside Sakura and looked at the page she had been reading. "The origin of life?"

"I'm trying to figure out why Mizuki-chan is lying there in the hospital, healing more rapidly than anyone ever has after that kind of operation, hell even breathing, without even an ounce of chakra or a chakra network." Neji's report to Tsunade had made the conclusion that there existed no system of any kind for chakra production or flow within Mizuki. He could see her normal circulatory system and he could see that she had vast quantities of energy but he had no idea where the energy was coming from or how it was so evenly distributed throughout her body. The mystery was deepening.

"Oh yeah I heard about her when Team Asuma returned from our latest mission."

Sakura smiled. It had been a few years since Sarutobi Asuma's death at the hands of the Akatsuki member Hidan but Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji still referred to themselves as "Team Asuma" in honour of their old sensei.

"Yeah her story has been causing a practical uproar since Naruto told Kiba about her. And you know how well those two keep secrets."

"I'll say. I stopped to talk to Chihiro ba-chan on the way over here and she said that Mizuki was a secret experiment planted by the Akatsuki in the Sand village to seduce all the men so the Sand village could take over Konoha and Uchiha Itachi would be Hokage."

Sakura just stared at Ino. "I literally have nothing to say to that Ino."

"So…is she?" Ino winked at Sakura.

"An Akatsuki spy for the Sand Village? Ino that's so stupid I'm not even going to dignify it with an answer."

"No no!" Ino leaned in even closer. "I mean, is she attractive?"

"Huh?" Sakura looked confused. "Well yeah I suppose so." Even as she said the words, images of Mizuki and Naruto sitting by the fire talking and laughing burned their way to the front of her mind. She shoved them back and said, "Yeah Mizuki-chan is really pretty actually, however," She shut the book with a louder than necessary bang and stood up. "I'm glad that you interrupted me. I'm supposed to be giving Mizuki-chan her check-up today. Why don't you come with me and see for yourself?"

"Sounds good to me." Ino helped Sakura put away her books and they walked to the hospital together.

They arrived to a scene somewhat different than that which had become familiar in the last few days. Usually Mizuki would be sitting in a chair beside her bed reading some books she had requested from Sakura about the history of the world she had forgotten. Sasuke would be sitting in a chair over by the window and staring out of it looking morose and pissed off. There had been no sign of Itachi since the altercation in the Sand Village and it was putting everyone, especially Sasuke in a bad mood waiting for the worst. Well almost everyone. The only person who didn't seem to mind Itachi taking his time was also the only one missing. Naruto, who's constant enthusiasm and energy had kept Mizuki and Sasuke from having to speak to each other and so kept from losing their minds, had been called away by Tsunade to join Kiba in an afternoon of manual labour for being such blabber mouths. As a result the silence was deafening as they entered the room. Mizuki was sitting in the same chair she usually did but the book was lying forgotten on her lap. Her arms were crossed, her face was beat red and she looked positively annoyed. Sasuke was sitting in his chair being as diligent as ever in his efforts to look morose and pissed off to be babysitting. But his face too was red and he kept shooting glances at Mizuki as if he was waiting for her to say something. Sakura sighed internally.

"I knew I left the two of them alone too long. I wonder what they were fighting about this time." She closed the door behind her and Ino loudly to announce their presence and Sasuke and Mizuki both looked up surprised. Sakura saw Mizuki's face pale considerably and chided herself for scaring her when she was already so uneasy. She put on her best smile.

"Well it's like I never left." She said smugly as Ino came up beside her.

Mizuki and Sasuke both gave Sakura the same completely unimpressed look. Then Mizuki's eyes went blank at the newcomer as Sasuke waved a hand nonchalantly and said, "Hey Ino."

"Having fun Sasuke-kun?" Ino said smiling.

"Hmph always." Sasuke replied looking back out of the window. Mizuki shot her protector another dark look and Sakura just shook her head. Ino switched her attention to Mizuki and stepped forward.

"Hey, I'm Ino. You must be Mizuki-chan. I've heard a lot about you."

"Well I don't doubt that." Mizuki replied. "That Naruto couldn't keep a secret if my life depended on it. Oh wait…it does!" She smiled and shook her head. She wasn't really angry with Naruto, she was just amazed that within an hour of her waking up from the surgery, after he'd made sure she was going to be okay, he'd run right out to get his fill of his precious ramen. On the way he'd met Kiba and had excitedly told him all about the adventures of the last week. Kiba had told Shino and Hinata, (who he'd been going to meet for training) Shino told Lee, Hinata told Ten Ten and the both of them gave Neji a blast of crap for not telling them sooner. Between the six of them (excluding Neji of course; he was much bigger than that; the five or so Jounin he'd told when he met them later for lunch didn't count…a security thing you know) the entire village was trading stranger and weirder stories about the mysterious visitor within two hours. And it wasn't showing any signs of slowing down.

"Actually, what I've heard about you seems to be only partially true."

"Yeah I have a feeling that people are going to be mighty disappointed when they find out I have only two eyes, no tentacles and my tongue isn't forked."

A sudden series of loud coughs came from the chair by the window.

"Perhaps you need a drink of water." Mizuki said scornfully.

"I think I do." Sasuke said smirking and rising from the chair to walk towards the pitcher of water on a nearby table.

"While you're over there why don't you go soak your head?"

"What and ruin my hair?"

"Oh my God I'm absolutely crushed by your wit."

Ino decided in a moment that she liked this mysterious girl. Anyone who was a match for Sasuke was alright in her books. She expected Sakura to be irritated at the childishness but she was actually smiling.

"You know I think you two are getting better at this." Sakura said with a wry smile. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to break up the love fest here I have to give Mizuki-chan her check up today. Can you wait outside for a few minutes Sasuke-kun?"

"Oh please don't send me from her sight." Sasuke said in a deadpanned voice as he poured a glass of water and took it over to where Mizuki was sitting in her chair. Mizuki looked at him as though she were waiting for the next insult but he simply put the glass on the table beside her and walked out of the room.

Ino watched the exchange and smiled at Mizuki. "Glad to meet you Mizuki-chan. When Sakura springs you from here come by the Yamanaka flower shop and we'll chat." She quickly followed after Sasuke.

Ino caught up with Sasuke a little ways down the hall. She walked silently beside him for a few steps before muttering, "She really is as pretty as people are saying."

Sasuke glanced from the corner of his eye at her. "If you say so."

"Funny too."

"Whatever."

"Seems strong too. I mean, anyone who can stand up to your abuse Sasuke-kun would have to be…"

"Is there something I can help you with Ino?" Sasuke interrupted Ino as he stopped just before the stairwell entrance.

Ino grinned mischievously. "Not really. Except…do you really think Itachi will come after her again? It's been almost a week hasn't it?"

"Absolutely." Sasuke replied. "He's made it clear that it's the girl he wants and he's not one to lose sight of his goals." He realized his mistake too late. Ino gasped and then giggled madly.

"Did you just make a joke Sasuke-kun? It looks like our mysterious new friend is having an effect on you after all." She walked past Sasuke and down the hall. "See you later." Sasuke watched her go out of sight and leaned against the wall with his hand on his head.

"Itachi, what is taking you so long?" He moaned.

A/N: Two chaps in one day again! But that's because not much happened in this chapter and for that I apologize. It really was necessary filler. I added a little humour in it to make up for it so I hope it's okay. I'm not one to plan my stories out ahead of time hence the unknown factor of who's going to end up with who. My fics tend to write themselves if you know what I mean. I do like how Sasuke and Mizuki are with each other though. It's fun to write them being nasty to each other. Seems too that Ino's picking something up that no one else is noticing...or doesn't want to notice. Either way I'm looking forward to writing the next chaps and I hope you're looking forward to reading them. Have a great week!


	8. Out Of The Hospital and Into The Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did I wouldn't have to write fanfics about it!

Chapter 8

Out Of The Hospital And Into The Fire

Less than an hour later Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had been called to Tsunade's office. Neji had been called in to guard Mizuki in the meantime, his Byakugan making him the next best opponent against Itachi.

"She has healed that quickly Sakura?" Tsunade asked with eyebrows raised.

"It's amazing Tsunade-sama. I've never seen anything like it. I can't find anything that references anything close to it either. There's no need for her to be in a hospital anymore."

"Well then it becomes a question of where to put her while she has her sessions with the Anbu memory experts."

"She can stay with me." Sakura said quickly before Naruto's opening mouth could release any words. "Don't even think about it Naruto. You're house is a complete pigsty. I don't want Mizuki-chan to get sick again now that she's just recovered." Naruto glared at her.

"I appreciate the offer Sakura but I've already decided where Mizuki will stay for the remainder of her time here in Konoha. It's actually why I called all of you here. Sasuke, have you any perception at all as to when Itachi will come for Mizuki?"

"No. Only that he will. I'm a little surprised that he hasn't shown up yet but I may be overestimating his state of health. He may be physically unable to enter Konoha undetected. But one thing we can't underestimate is his need. If his health is as bad as I think it is then he's going to have to do…whatever he has to do with Mizuki soon. Desperation will push him here sooner rather than later."

"I thought as much." Tsunade sighed. She looked at Sasuke with an almost sympathetic look. "Sasuke, you moved back into your old family home several months ago yes?" Sasuke had been living in the same building as Naruto for the first year and a half since coming back to Konoha. Being a missing Nin, his return called several policies into place, the most important being that he needed to be constantly supervised by a Konoha ninja until his loyalties could be proven again. He had met the requirements and had finally been able to live in his family home again.

"Yes. Why?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowing.

"And it has several rooms?" Tsunade pretty much asked without having to ask.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." If Sasuke's mouth were to be any more puckered, he could have swallowed his own lips.

"Shishou you can't be serious!" Sakura eyes were alight with shock.

"What? What's everyone's problem?" Naruto looked from Sasuke to Sakura clearly confused.

"I know you have some issues with Mizuki but they are as of this moment supremely unimportant. Her safety until Itachi can be captured is of the utmost importance. Do you understand Sasuke?"

"Yes of course I do." Sasuke said resignedly. "And I will protect her Tsunade-sama, I promise you that."

"I know you will." Tsunade replied seriously. "But don't worry. I will provide breaks. For you and for her." She turned her attention to Sakura. "You will handle Mizuki's release from the hospital Sakura and send Neji back to see me when you do. Naruto, you will advise Kakashi of her change of address and tell him to alert the anbu memory specialists. Memory retrieval begins tomorrow."

"But I don't understand. Where is she going to stay?" Naruto said exasperated.

"Oh come on Naruto." Sakura said grabbing his arm after bowing respectfully to Tsunade. "Maybe you'll catch on when we break it to Mizuki-chan."

XXX

"WHAT?" Naruto didn't have a quiet voice to begin with but the windows practically shook with the volume of his yell.

Mizuki just smiled at Naruto's outburst. "It's alright. I was sort of expecting something like this. If Tsunade-sama was so keen on having Sasuke with me all the time then I guess it make sense. (even if it makes me cringe)" she thought the last to herself.

"If Mizuki-chan can deal with it I'm sure you can Naruto." Sakura said calmly enough but inner Sakura was raising hell. "She's going to be living with my Sasuke!" Her inner voice screamed. "Alone with him! Sleeping just a wall away with no one else there! Thank God they hate each other!" She smiled a million dollars as she grabbed Mizuki's small bag with the clothes she had received while staying in the Sand village. "Now that you're out Mizuki-chan, we're going to have to go shopping for some more suitable clothes for you. I know these don't fit very well and you can't wander around Konoha in one of our hospital gowns either. We can go after we get you settled into Sasuke-kun's place."

Mizuki nodded only half-listening as she headed for the hospital room door. With the face of one heading to a funeral, Naruto held the door open for her and the four walked out of the hospital and towards the east end of the village where the entire Uchiha clan had once lived.

A few years after the infamous massacre, the Sandaime had ordered the area to be cleaned up and made of use for the rest of village citing that memories, especially ones horrible as this, should remain memories. So the village had slowly taken over the homes and businesses that the Uchiha clan had been responsible for. In deference to the clan's sole survivor however, Sasuke's house had been left empty with the understanding that he would once again live there when he was old enough. It had never happened before Sasuke's defection but when the Godaime had tried to make use of the house after his disappearance, Naruto had stopped her with his undying determination that he would bring his friend home. And so the house stood empty, waiting for its master to return to it. And at last, its patience had been rewarded.

Mizuki's eyes went wide as she saw the sprawling estate. "It's one of the biggest houses I've seen in the village." She thought amazed. "Who was Sasuke's family?" The house was indeed spacious, with five bedrooms grouped at the back end, a large open concept living area and kitchen and a mud room with a large porch off it that wrapped around the whole house. And the entire structure was surrounded by a lush garden with a man-made pond. Like an appendage of the pond, a stream ran under a small bridge by a pavilion that looked much newer than the rest of the house. Sasuke had taken great care to restore his family home to its former grandeur but could not resist adding the pavilion in the backyard. It was his quiet place for meditation and his haven when the memories that still swam in his house proved too much.

Mizuki felt almost dizzy with apprehension as she followed Sasuke up the steps and waited as he unlocked the door. She had shown a strong smile to Naruto but her insides were squirming violently. "How am I going to do this?" She thought wildly. Of everyone she could have stayed with why did it have to be him? Even Sakura would have been a better choice. She barely managed to stammer out, "Sorry for the intrusion" before stepping over the threshold. Sasuke just grunted and looked away. She looked around the front room, trying to calm the thumping in her chest. She had no logical reason for her fear but her heart was screaming at her that it would be better to face off against Itachi and die than to live with this man she couldn't stand for even one day. At least her suffering would be over sooner.

Naruto had carried her bag for her and now passed her to one of the back bedrooms with a look on his face that almost mirrored what Mizuki was feeling. Mizuki had time to wonder why Naruto was so upset about the arrangement when Sasuke spoke.

"Naruto put the bag in the second room on your right."

"But that's right next to your room!" The sound of Naruto's voice placed him in the bedroom at the end of the hall. The farthest one from Sasuke's.

"No kidding." Sasuke replied. "If something should happen during the night, don't you think it'd be easier to hear if she were in the next room? Honestly dobe."

"Damn I was hoping he wouldn't notice either." Inner Sakura seethed. Aloud Sakura said, "Okay Mizuki-chan, we need to get you something a little more flattering than grey pants and a t-shirt Let's go shopping for oh I don't know…a couple hours." Her smile could have lit a thousand light bulbs and Mizuki found herself a little frightened of it.

"Is she really okay with this?" Mizuki thought as Sakura practically grabbed her arm and dragged her out the front door. Sasuke followed grumpily.

"Can't this wait?" He grumbled. "It's the first time I've been home in over a week too you know."

"Oh don't worry about it Sasuke-kun." Sakura chirped at him. "Let's stop by Yamanaka flower shop to see if Ino wants to join us."

"Naruto." Sasuke groaned

"Yeah I know." Naruto said back just as unhappily. They had seen Sakura like this before. Shopping mode. It was going to be a long afternoon.

"I have to stay with them you know." Sasuke groaned again.

"Don't worry. I'm with ya teme." Naruto patted Sasuke on the shoulder.

"You're a real pal Naruto."

XXX

Two hours later the group, of course joined by Ino, had been to four different stores; and hadn't bought a single thing. They were just coming up on the last store on the strip when they heard a loud "Naruto-nii-chan!"

Naruto looked up the street and smiled. "Konohamaru! It's been a while! Had any good missions lately?" Mizuki looked to where Naruto was yelling and saw a young boy about thirteen years of age running towards them. He stopped a few feet away and started talking to Naruto animatedly about his latest mission to help rebuild a house recently destroyed in a fire. When he had finished he said hello quickly to everyone there before stopping to stare at Mizuki.

"Who's this Naruto-nii-chan? A new girlfriend?" He said slyly, winking at Naruto. Sakura's eyes went three shades of red and she bopped Konohamaru over the head.

"You're too young to say things like that in such a tone!"

"Ah Sakura-chan I think that was a little harsh." Naruto said placating and introduced Mizuki to Konohamaru. Mizuki smiled at Konohamaru but when he smiled at her, she suddenly felt as though all warmth had left her body. She could feel gooseflesh cropping up on her arms and her heart was beating uncomfortably fast. She didn't want the others seeing anything was wrong so she closed her eyes and pushed the fear back. When she opened them again she looked Konohamaru in the eye. The feeling did not return.

"I must be tired." She thought to herself. She put on her best smile and said, "It's nice to meet you Konohamaru-kun. Naruto-san's told me you're his rival for the next Hokage."

"Hmmm I think Naruto-nii-chan has other things on his mind right now than becoming Hokage. Not that I blame him. I'll see you later nee-chan." Konohamaru winked and ran off before Sakura could take another whack at him. Mizuki looked at Naruto who was trying to play turtle to hide his suddenly red face. Sakura was shooting him a dirty look and Sasuke started walking away.

"Can we get on with it? The next store is the last one Sakura. Whether you find something here or not we're leaving right after." He snapped as he walked into the last store on the corner. Sakura scowled but quickly followed with the others.

"What about this outfit Sakura-san?" Mizuki held up a pair of black pants with a white top.

"No no Mizuki-chan, think colour. Think feminine!"

"I'm a girl Sakura-san what do you think I'm thinking?"

"Sakura look at this!" Ino stepped up with a dress in hand.

"Oh that's perfect! Mizuki-chan, try this on!"

"Are you sure I should be buying things like this considering the situation I'm in?" Mizuki said uncertainly eyeing the low neckline.

"For once I actually agree with her." Sasuke's impatient voice came from the bench he and Naruto had been sitting on for the last twenty minutes. He did not look towards the three but said, "Her life is in constant danger until Itachi is captured, and it's going to be really hard to run away in a little dresses and skirts."

Mizuki shot Sasuke a dangerous look. She grabbed the dress from Ino's hand and stomped into the change room. A couple of minutes went by and then Mizuki's uneasy voice sounded from within. "I don't know about this Sakura-san."

"Come out let me see!" Sakura prodded.

The door opened with a reluctant squeak and Mizuki stepped out.

"Perfect." Ino breathed. "Do they have my size too?" She immediately started pulling the rack apart.

"Mizuki-chan that's beautiful!" Sakura said. "It might be a little too beautiful actually." Inner Sakura groaned but Sakura kept on her bright smile.

Mizuki looked up and felt her face turning bright red as she saw Sakura and Ino's reactions. She immediately looked away and ended up looking right at Naruto who, at the sight of her, had sat up straight and wore the look of someone who had just been sucker punched. She felt her face grow even redder as his eyes roved her entire body, seeming to take it all in. She looked away quickly and did not see Naruto poke Sasuke hard in the ribs.

"What the hell dobe I don't care what ugly thing she has…" his voice trailed off as he saw Mizuki.

The dress was knee length and had an empire waist. It was a bright turquoise with a geometric pattern of whites and yellows running through it. The neckline was low but flatteringly so and it was finished off by short cap sleeves. Mizuki was radiant in it, even with her apple red face.

Sasuke remembered vaguely that he had been in the middle of saying something but he shook it off, stood up and walked out of the store. "Get whatever you want. It's not like she'll be here long anyway."

Naruto stood up and walked over to where Mizuki stood looking beautiful, and hurt. "That dress looks great on you Mizuki-chan." He smiled brightly but Mizuki barely paid attention as she watched Sasuke stalk out the door.

"Thanks Naruto-san." She mumbled and turned away quickly. She went back into the change room without another word.

When she emerged, Sakura grabbed the dress out of her hand and ran up to the check-out with it and a few other decidedly less colourful and feminine items before Mizuki could say anything. Mizuki walked slowly up to the cash. The clerk looked from Sakura to Mizuki and his face dawned with recognition.

"Hey you're that girl everyone's been talking about. But you're not seven feet tall."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Mizuki mumbled sarcastically and grabbed her bag. She walked out of the store and in her annoyance, walked straight into Neji who was just turning the corner. She bounced right off him and fell backwards to land straight on her behind in the dirt.

"Huh? Mizuki-chan! Are you alright?" A hand shot down towards her, she grabbed it and pulled herself up.

"Neji-san! I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?" Mizuki stood up and bowed slightly to Neji, feeling absolutely mortified. "Can this day get any worse?" She thought miserably.

"No harm done." He smiled at her reassuringly and she felt the familiar tingle come to her cheeks. She suddenly found herself wishing she was still wearing the dress. "I'm glad to see they finally let you leave the hospital."

"Huh? Oh yeah Tsunade-sama and Sakura-san did a great job so it didn't take long. I've never felt better in my life."

"And then you had to ruin your suave exit by falling flat on your ass." Sasuke said smugly from beside the door where he had been waiting for them to exit the store.

"I don't remember asking for your two cents." Mizuki said without turning.

"Oh two cents nothing. That one was free of charge."

"So are most worthless things in life."

Neji watched the exchange with interest. Tsunade and Sakura had told him that Sasuke and Mizuki did not get along but he had no idea it was this bad.

"It's a good thing Tsunade-sama made the request of me that she did." He spoke loudly to get their attention. They stopped fighting and looked at him.

"What request?" Naruto said with narrow eyes as he came out of the store followed closely by Sakura and Ino.

"It seems that Tsunade-sama anticipates that Mizuki-chan will be the village's guest for a while. And despite her confidence that Sasuke will be able to protect his charge, Tsunade-sama feels it prudent that she learn at least some basic fighting skills while she's here. To that effect, I've been asked to begin training you in basic Taijutsu after your sessions with the Anbu. That is, if that's acceptable to you Mizuki-chan."

Mizuki was silent in surprise. One on one training with Neji acceptable? "Oh Hell yeah!" she thought but she was also amused at Tsunade's attempt at giving her and Sasuke a break from each other. Out loud she said, "I'm honoured Neji-san but, does Tsunade-sama really think I'll be here that long?"

"I thought we determined that her memories weren't buried that deeply." Sasuke said sharply.

"While that is likely, my analysis regarding her complete absence of chakra is going to make the Anbu's job a little more difficult. They will have to exert a large amount of energy to properly induce a hypnotic genjutsu. As a result they will not be able to keep it up for long. It will probably take several days to retrieve her memory completely."

Sasuke sighed dejectedly but Mizuki felt her heart thump heavily in her chest at Neji's use of the word Genjutsu.

"Training eh? I'll help too Mizuki-chan!" Naruto spoke up. I've learned lots of great jutsu's that will help you fight back against Itachi." He grinned widely and Mizuki favoured him with a large smile of her own.

"She can't learn Ninjutsu without chakra you knucklehead." Sakura spat out as she whacked him across the back of the head. "You have other duties too. Sasuke-kun is the only one who's been told to spend every minute with Mizuki-chan, the rest of us have things to do!"

"Jeez Sakura-chan that was unnecessary." Naruto said rubbing his head. Sasuke just sighed.

"Well at least it'll get you out of my hair for a few hours." He said as he walked past the group. "Now if you all don't mind, I'd like to go home to get some rest. Are you coming Mizuki?" He asked impatiently without looking back.

Mizuki looked after Sasuke's quickly retreating form, sighed and shook her head. "I'll see you tomorrow then Neji-san?"

"Yes. I shall pick you up when you have recovered from the memory retrieval."

"Recovered huh? Seems to be all I'm doing lately." She turned to Naruto. "I appreciate the offer Naruto-san but I don't want your other duties to suffer because of me. Thanks for the clothes Sakura-san, Ino-san. I'll see you later I guess." And coercing her feet to move, she walked off after Sasuke.

Naruto stood still for several moments afterward, watching Mizuki catch up to Sasuke and fall in step beside him. First Sasuke and now Neji. Did that old bag of a Hokage really think he was that useless? "I told Mizuki-chan I would protect her and that's a promise I'm going to keep." He said quietly. He turned around with a mischievous smile and headed off to finally find Kakashi to give him Tsunade's message.

A/N: Naruto's determination is what makes me love his character so much. But is that all he's feeling? And now Sasuke and Mizuki are forced to live in the same house! I know the last couple chaps have felt like set up but there's two big moments in the next chapter that should get things rolling nicely again. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!


	9. Clues To Nothing

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Sasuke or Sakura which is probably a good thing as their lives are about to get a whole lot more complicated. :)

As promised, this chapter does away with filler and gives two big plot moments. I know, it's about time right? Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Clues to Nothing

When they returned to the house, Mizuki had immediately gone to her room to put her new clothes away and had not come out since. Which was perfectly fine with Sasuke. He cleaned up a bit and went out to the pavilion to relax. But the tense feeling in his heart would not go away.

"Why her? What exactly is Itachi after? Why put her through so much terror and pain? Has he snapped? Will I be able to stop him? Will I be able to protect her?" The thoughts swam around his tired mind unceasing. He rubbed his temples, willing the pounding thoughts away but he wasn't the type who was able to relax easily when he was faced with question that had no answers. "I don't think I can defeat him this time." He thought back to his last encounter with his brother. In the end, he had been forced to rely on the level two power of Orochimaru's curse mark. But that power had done more damage to his body than Itachi and he had promised Sakura and Naruto that he would never rely on its power again. He looked at his hands. "Will I be able to keep that promise if it comes down to it?" He said aloud without intending to.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke jumped and spun around. "I can't believe she snuck up on me! Was I that out of it?" His annoyance turned to concern however when he saw her face. She had changed into a pair of blue pants and a light purple top that was very flattering but her face was pale and her eyes red.

"Can I ask you something?" She said in a very subdued voice as though she didn't really want to know the answer.

Sasuke fought back the concerned feeling and said flippantly, "Sit down." He motioned to a chair near his own. Mizuki sat in the chair but looked at her lap for several seconds before sighing and looking at Sasuke.

"You know what happened to me don't you?"

Sasuke was silent for several moments. He should have known this was coming. Sakura had insisted Mizuki not be told anything about what had happened to her until she had been healed. Even when she'd recovered, when she'd asked about it, Sakura laughed it off. She would reassure Mizuki that her memory would come back in no time and there would be time to deal with it then and changed the subject.

"We have a good idea yeah." Sasuke said quietly.

"Do…do I want to get my memories back?" Mizuki looked straight at Sasuke, who for all his casual expressions, didn't know how to answer. Mizuki saw this and smiled grimly. "I thought so. I know Sakura-san is just trying to protect me but not knowing anything about myself or what happened to me is driving me insane. All I've managed to get are jumbled and disjointed images that don't make sense. A sky and ground tinted red. Red rain falling in my eyes. I can hear laughter sometimes too when I'm by myself and it's quiet. Horrible, maniacal laughter that I almost recognize..."

"It was an illusion Mizuki." Sasuke interrupted quickly. "That's what Genjutsu is. Nothing more than an illusion."

"There was nothing illusory about it." Mizuki said sharply. "Illusions can't hurt you. I almost died! I read about Genjutsu while I was in the hospital, well you know I did. It affects the mind, it doesn't harm the body; not like mine was anyway. If I'm forced to remember the things he made me see through hypnosis what will happen to me? I can't get a straight answer from Sakura but I know you'll tell me the truth. All sarcasm and hard feelings aside Sasuke I'm asking you please. What did he do to me?" The look in her eyes was terrified and desperate.

Sasuke looked away from her eyes quickly as he fought with his own mixed emotions. He had never agreed with Sakura about keeping everything from Mizuki but he was in no position to be telling her everything either. He realized quickly however that what she was really worried about was being put under a Genjutsu again tomorrow. He thought he could placate her without telling her anything important.

"You've got to understand Mizuki. We don't understand everything that's happened to you yet nor why. The only thing we're totally sure of is that Itachi used the Mangekyou Sharingan on you to produce a Genjutsu so strenuous on your mind that your body believed it was being harmed. For every injury you saw in your mind, the same thing happened to your body although no one was physically touching you. But this is a special trait that only Itachi has. I'm not saying that remembering won't hurt your mind, I'm sure it will be traumatic in fact. But physically you will not be harmed. I can promise you that. For what it's worth anyway." He had intended the last to lighten the mood but Mizuki seemed to not notice. He could see her hands shaking but as he spoke, the shaking lessened. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Traumatic huh? Yeah I'm sure it will be too." She said quietly. She stood up and walked past Sasuke before saying, "Thank you for telling me that much Sasuke. I appreciate it." She walked a few steps before Sasuke called out to her.

"Mizuki have you remembered anything more?" Suspicion was evident in his voice.

Mizuki did not turn around but there was distinct disappointment in her voice, "Nothing that would be of any use to you." Then she walked back into the house without another word.

XXX

It was late when Sasuke finally retired. Mizuki had not come out of her room again and he assumed she must be asleep by now. He checked through the house one more time for the sensor traps he had set. If Itachi made it into the village and tried to get into the house, a reaction would be set off with Sasuke's chakra, waking him up immediately. Similar traps had been set up outside of the hospital room while Mizuki was there. After satisfying himself with the preparations, he went to his room, stripped down to his shorts and crawled into bed.

He was sure he hadn't been asleep long when he heard it. His eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright, straining to hear it again. His chakra remained calm so he knew the house was still secure. But had the sound come from outside? He stood up carefully and walked over to his window. He could see the whole backyard from his window but could detect no movement and he couldn't sense his brother anywhere. He had almost convinced himself that he was hearing things when he heard it again. A soft but pained whimper. His head automatically turned in the direction it had come from. Mizuki's room! He crept as quickly and quietly as he could to the hallway and stopped in front of her door listening intently. He could hear her whimpering more clearly now but there was no other sound. If Itachi was in the next room, Sasuke was determined to take the advantage of surprise. He focused his chakra and within an instant he was in the room, the flickering of his body slowing till he was solid again. He immediately activated the Sharingan and threw himself into a fighting stance..

But no one was there!

He stood up straight and his eyes went back to normal. He looked around the room for any traces of entry but everything was quiet and still, except for Mizuki.

Her covers lay on the floor in a heap and Mizuki lay on the far side of the bed, clearly asleep but in the grips of what must be a horrific nightmare. Lying on her side, beads of sweat ran down her face which was in a painful grimace and her fists were clenched. As Sasuke watched, she tossed her head and groaned. Tears formed in her closed eyes and ran down her cheeks.

Sasuke stood beside the bed staring at Mizuki. Her appearance now bore an uncanny resemblance to the girl he had first seen over a week ago twisted and tortured in the sand village. But she had slept peacefully in the hospital since her return to Konoha. If she'd had any nightmares Sasuke had been unable to tell. Perhaps it was a result of their talk earlier. He hadn't seen her that upset in a few days, and the sudden changes this day had brought had to be wreaking havoc on her subconscious. Whatever the reason, standing beside her bed watching the tears run down her face, an uncomfortable pressure started in Sasuke's heart. She looked so small and fragile at that moment. A night and day difference from the girl who drove him crazy with every word she spoke and every smile he knew she forced. He felt like he was seeing her for the first time. Seeing past a barrier that, asleep, she didn't have the energy to put up. "And here she was trying so hard." He thought with a mixture of annoyance and sadness. His brain told him to wake her up and end her misery but when his body started to move, that's not what happened.

When he had time to think about it later, Sasuke could not (or would not) figure out what came over him; after all, he couldn't stand this girl. His oath to protect her was his duty, nothing more and nothing less. But at this moment, as he sat down then drew his legs up on the bed, nothing entered his thoughts other than how he wanted to comfort her and make her pain go away. Suffering was nothing new to him, he'd seen his best friends in circumstances more terrible than this and he had been able to carry on with his missions. But he remembered the look in her eyes earlier when she had begged him to tell her the truth. All the strength she'd shown up until that point was crumbling away and as much as he had fought it and tried to deny it, the pain and loneliness in her eyes had ripped at his heart. And it was his heart now that took control and most surprising and annoying of all, he let it.

Praying feverently that she wouldn't wake, Sasuke laid down next to her and very gently pulled her to him. Her face against his chest, he could feel her tears hot against his skin and he hugged her more tightly to him. He ran his hand through her sweat-dampened hair, brushing it back from her face. Her entire body was rock hard with fear. He breathed calmly, willing his body to relax and for her to feel it. After a few more tense minutes, her clenched fists began to loosen and her breathing slowed. He could feel the muscles in her body begin to relax. Still sound asleep, she stretched her neck, seeking out the pillow and Sasuke used the opportunity to slip his left arm underneath her neck. Her head now supported, she yawned deeply and sighed. If possible, she snuggled herself even closer to Sasuke, her head resting on his shoulder, just underneath his chin. Her breath was incredibly warm against his neck. Sasuke locked his arms together behind her back, enclosing her in as much comfort and warmth as he could muster. Soon enough he felt the last of the tension in her body leave her and within a few more minutes, she was deeply asleep; somewhere past dreaming. He didn't move, he hardly dared breathe for fear he would wake her now that she was sleeping peacefully. But he didn't let go.

He didn't know how long he lay there, listening to the sound of her breathing. He told himself he must not fall asleep lest she wake up before him and discover what he'd done. But he could feel her heartbeat, strong and steady, thumping next to his own and it was having a hypnotic effect on him. He felt his own body relaxing and the strangest feeling had come over his heart. The tension and uncertainty that had plagued his every sense since the start of this crazy mission was slipping away and he felt himself falling into what he was sure would be the best sleep he'd ever had. But with a start, just before sleep could take him, he came fully awake and chastised himself. He couldn't allow himself to let down his guard. Mizuki's life was depending on it. Slowly and very, very carefully, Sasuke slipped his arms out from around Mizuki's body and with the reflexes he prided himself on, whipped a pillow under her head before it had moved an inch. Mizuki didn't even twitch. Then just as carefully, he crept out of the bed and out the door. He ignored how cold he suddenly felt as he got back into his own bed.

He tried to call forth the feeling of peace again but the world seemed suddenly more dark and unforgiving. The vice closed around his heart once again and when he finally did fall asleep, his dreams were haunted by dark red eyes so similar yet so different from his own.

XXX

Mizuki awoke the next morning more relaxed and refreshed than she could ever remember feeling. Which was strange considering she could remember having a nightmare the previous night. But she could no longer remember what had been happening in it. She decided it wise to not dwell on it. She was sure she'd be reliving a true nightmare soon enough. She dressed in black pants and a blue t-shirt and standing before the mirror, put the vial of sand Gaara had given her carefully in her pocket. It had become her good luck charm over the last few days. The only thing around her that brought her comfort. She believed with all her heart that Gaara would protect her if she needed him. She'd tried to convince herself the same of her leaf protectors too. Especially Naruto. For every sincere smile he had given her over the last few days, she'd felt her fear of him fading but just as she'd manage to convince herself that her fear of him was baseless, she'd look at him and suddenly see in her mind's eye; a red sky, red light, and cruel laughter. Her heart would start thumping like crazy again and she would be right back where she started.

"You know what's really strange?" She said to her reflection. "I've met several other people since coming to Konoha and yet none of them have triggered the same reaction of fear like Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi. Well maybe Tsunade-sama but that's different. She's just a scary person when she wants to be. Ino is great and Neji…well…stop it you're acting like a stupid teenager." She chastised her reflection but couldn't keep the smile from her face. She wasn't sure she'd be any good at Taijutsu but she figured she'd enjoy the lesson just the same.

Despite the nervousness she felt about her first memory retrieval session Mizuki left her room with a smile on her face, which disappeared in a flash when she saw Sasuke sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea. He looked to be in a supremely bad mood.

"Well good morning sunshine." She said warily as she passed him to get some tea for herself.

Sasuke said nothing but continued to inspect the table while sipping his tea.

"Fine." Mizuki took her tea and sat at the table opposite her moody bodyguard. She sipped at her own tea not knowing that Sasuke's bad mood was because of her, only not in the way she would have thought.

"That was a stupid thing to do. What the hell was I thinking?" He asked his brain for the hundredth time. And for the hundredth time, he got no answer. "I can never do that again. Next time I'll just give her a good smack and wake her up. That's what I should have done in the first place." Even after telling himself that it was a momentary lapse of compassion and nothing more he couldn't stop the whisperings that had started in his heart. He sat immersed in his bad mood until Mizuki's impatient voice cut through the fog.

"It's getting late Sasuke. Hadn't we better get going?"

Sasuke looked up shocked. "When did she come out?" He thought to himself annoyed. He could hear Ino's voice in his head from yesterday. "Looks like our mysterious new friend is having an effect on you after all." He stood up and put his tea cup in the sink far more forcefully than necessary. Mizuki jumped at the loud noise and shot him a nasty look.

"I'm sure that wasn't necessary."

"Let's go." Was all he said and he walked out the door. Mizuki looked after him shocked. Then she threw her own tea cup in the sink and ran after him.

"What the hell crawled up his butt and died this morning?"

Forty five minutes later Mizuki sat on a plain wooden chair in the middle of a black room with scrawls all over the floor in white chalk. There was a single light directly above her and she couldn't see five feet around her in any direction. It felt more like an interrogation than something that was supposed to help her and even looking forward to her lesson with Neji that afternoon wasn't making her feel any better. She squinted at the darkness to her right. She knew Sakura and Naruto were there, and Sasuke was on his way but for some reason that made her feel worse. She didn't know why but she didn't want them to know what her memories held. She shocked herself by realizing that she didn't want to hurt them. And she somehow knew that whatever lay trapped in her subconscious, it would hurt them just as much as it would hurt her.

"Are you ready Mizuki-chan?" A voice suddenly came from the darkness. Mizuki looked to her left as a shinobi wearing a strange animal mask came into the light and stopped just a few feet away from her.

Mizuki tried to stop her voice from shaking. "No. But let's do it anyway." The Anbu shinobi opened his palm and drawn in the centre was a small swirl.

"Please focus on this symbol." Mizuki stared at the swirl and amazingly, it began to rotate! She had been afraid that her nervousness and her irritation with Sasuke's even worse than normal attitude (which had gotten a whole lot worse when they had gotten to Anbu headquarters. One of the Anbu had taken Sasuke aside and said something that seemed to really upset him. He had rudely told her to go on, he'd be there in a minute.) would keep her from being able to concentrate but within 30 seconds of the swirl beginning to rotate, the Anbu snapped his fingers and Mizuki was out like a light.

Naruto stood beside an extremely irritated Sakura and watched the Anbu put Mizuki under with apprehension. He could hear Sakura's annoyed sighs but he ignored them. He had found her waiting just outside the building where the Anbu were housed but she had not been happy to see him.

"What are you doing here Naruto? Don't you have duties this morning?" She asked grumpily.

"They can wait. Mizuki-chan is more important." He replied stopping next to her.

"That's why I'm here. If things get too heated I will be able to help her. You don't need to be here."

"I gave Mizuki-chan my word that I would protect her and no one is going to stop me from doing it. Not the old hag and not even you Sakura-chan."

Sakura felt stung. In all the years she'd known Naruto, he'd never spoken to her like he'd been doing in the last several days. Usually he would whine at her for being mean to him and in the next breath he'd try to get her to agree to a date later as compensation. Since they'd started this mission however, he'd been quiet and almost cold with her. She couldn't even blame Mizuki for it because it had started before they had met her. But she knew that much of his recent attitude had a lot to do with Mizuki and even though she would admit it to no one, not even herself, she hated it. Naruto was changing, pulling farther away from her and putting himself as close to Mizuki as possible.

Naruto knew very well how he was talking to Sakura and although the last thing he wanted in the world was to hurt her, he felt himself unable to stop. He couldn't have pinpointed when it started but he knew his heart was pulling itself away from Sakura. He also knew it was focusing more on Mizuki. He told himself that it was only because she was so alone and, knowing what loneliness was like, he wanted to save her from the pain. But when she had stepped out of the change room in that dress. He had felt like someone had sucker punched him straight in the chest. The way her hair fell just so on her shoulders, the way the dress fit her figure perfectly, even how red her face had been. It had awakened a feeling in Naruto that he thought he would never feel for anyone besides Sakura. And if his desire to protect her had been strong before, it was undeniable now. So he had put off the errands Tsunade had given him and instead come to the memory retrieval session. The trouble he would be in later didn't matter. He had promised Mizuki he would protect her and he never went back on his word.

"That was fast." Sasuke murmured quietly as he walked up beside Sakura causing her to gasp in surprise. "I thought Neji said it would take more effort than that."

"Where the heck have you been?" She whispered to him but he shook his head. "She's not in a Genjutsu yet." Sakura corrected him annoyed. "It is going to take a lot of effort to infiltrate her memories, it's just easier if she's unconscious. That's why they hypnotized her first. Hypnosis doesn't need chakra to be effective."

The Anbu who had hypnotized Mizuki snapped his fingers a few times close to her face. She didn't even flinch.

"Heh. She can sleep through anything." Sasuke muttered to himself.

"What the hell does that mean?" Sakura suddenly said a little too loudly.

"If you cannot be quiet, you'll have to leave." One Anbu spoke up.

"Knock it off you two. This is important to Mizuki-chan." Naruto whispered harshly. Sasuke ignored him but Sakura shot him a dark look. He was completely focused on watching the process in front of him. The stung feeling hit her again and she forced herself to look away.

Three other Anbu had approached the chair where Mizuki sat unconscious and they formed a crude circle around her. They made a series of seals with their hands with lightning speed and then stopped. They appeared to be focusing very intently. All was silent and still for several minutes and then suddenly the Anbu on the left gave out a soft groan.

"Are they going to be able to do this?" Sasuke whispered almost inaudibly to Sakura.

"If I could heal her with no chakra then they can do this." Sakura said simply.

Several more minutes passed by and Sasuke was starting to get fidgety. The Anbu that had stopped him when he and Mizuki had arrived had given him the worst possible news. The body of an Anbu guard had been found yesterday a few hundred yards outside the village walls. The body had no visible marks but a post mortem showed that his otherwise healthy heart had endured an extreme amount of stress over a very short period of time and had a fatal attack. In other words, he had been frightened to death . The other Anbu were sure it was the work of Itachi and had given Sasuke instructions from Tsunade that even while Mizuki was with Neji, Sasuke was to stay close by. They had not been able to determine if Itachi had entered the village yet but it was clear that whatever was going to happen, it would be going down soon. Kakashi had the Anbu on even higher alert around the village but Tsunade had made it clear that their first priority was to maintain the safety of the villagers. When it came down to protecting Mizuki, Sasuke would likely be on his own. He tried to shake his now even more horrible mood and focus on what was happening to Mizuki but in the dark it was extremely hard so he looked to Naruto for distraction but he was still staring intently at Mizuki where she still sat unconscious and unmoving in her seat.

Sasuke knew his best friend better than anybody and Naruto's change of attitude towards Sakura had not gone unnoticed by him. He knew Naruto had felt frustrated in the beginning at not being chosen to protect Mizuki. He knew Naruto felt as though his strength wasn't being acknowledged. But he doubted highly now that strength had much to do with his wanting to constantly be by Mizuki's side. "Sakura may have played stubborn a little too long." He thought a little sadly. Sasuke had not said anything but he had been lying awake in his sleeping bag the night that Naruto had promised Mizuki he would protect her. He had heard the conviction in Naruto's voice and knew that if necessary, Naruto would die to protect Mizuki and he would do it willingly, not just as part of his duty. Sasuke couldn't even say that much. His expression softened as he thought of his best friend's determination. "It's how he saved me after all. If we all make it through this alive, I'll have to remember to have a talk with the both of them about stubbornness and admitting their feelings."

He saw Naruto's expression darken and looked to where his gaze was directed only to see Mizuki's face contort suddenly into a fierce frown. He put his attention fully on her as one of the Anbu broke his concentration and knelt down in front of her.

"Mizuki-chan can you hear me?" He said slowly.

Mizuki tilted her head as though she was having a hard time hearing him but then answered, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes I am. Is your name not Mizuki?"

"No."

"Could you tell me your name please?"

Sasuke could hear Naruto and Sakura inhale audibly. He felt himself involuntarily tense as well.

"No."

Three very audible exhales could be heard from the darkness.

"Why not?" The Anbu pressed on.

"I…" She paused and frowned again. "I don't have a name."

The Anbu switched tactics. "Can you tell me where you're from?"

Again a frown of deep thought then, "No. I don't have a home."

"Hmmm." The Anbu thought for a second and then, "Can you tell me where you are right now?"

"In a dark room." A pause. "I can't see very well. Everything's blurry and it looks red."

The three leafs in the darkness leaned forward once more.

"Why is it red?" The Anbu asked carefully.

"Because he's playing another game." A smile lit her face now.

"Who is playing a game?"

"Itachi of course." She said this in a manner that said she thought everyone should know the answer. Her tone had changed. She was no longer frowning. She was smiling as though the memory was a pleasant one but her hands remained clenched tightly.

"Which game is he playing?" The Anbu looked towards the three leafs in the corner and even though they couldn't see his face through the mask, they had an idea what expression he was making. It probably matched theirs.

"He's trying to make my chakra disappear. That's why everything is red."

Even the Anbu could not suppress a gasp.

"Do you know how he's doing it?" The Anbu asked tersely, unable to keep his voice from rising.

"No. He does it all the time. He makes it disappear then he makes it reappear. It's like magic. It makes me feel weird but it's funny too."

Her expression suddenly changed. A frown spread itself across her features and genuine fear entered her voice.

"What's wrong Mizuki-chan. What do you see?" The Anbu asked quickly.

"Stop calling me that!" She practically yelled. "It's not my name!"

"I apologize. Please tell me what's happening."

"I don't…I can't…" Her breathing became more rapid and her head darted quickly in different directions as though even with her eyes closed she was still trying to see all around her. "I don't understand…What do you want from me?"

"What does who want? Itachi?"

"I don't understand. What do you want? Why does it hurt? I didn't do anything!"

"Mizuki-chan relax. He can't hurt you." The Anbu placed a hand on Mizuki's head and made a seal with the other hand. He muttered a few words but instead of relaxing, Mizuki's voice became even louder.

"Stop calling me that dammit!" She yelled. "I told you I don't have a name!"

"But everyone has a name." The Anbu prodded.

"I don't." She insisted. "Only human's have names. I don't have a name! I don't have a name! I don't have a name!" Her voice became louder and louder and it was joined by a tone of almost hysteria. Her eyes still closed, she pounded her fists on the arm of the chair.

"I don't have a name! Only humans have names! I don't have a name!" She screamed louder and louder still.

"Stop it! Snap her out of it! Stop it now!" Naruto yelled, ignoring Sakura's attempts to grab his arm and running over to Mizuki where her agitation was increasing more still.

"Stay back Naruto-kun!" The Anbu held his arms up.

"Like hell! She can't handle much more! You have to release her!" Naruto would have run right to the chair but Sasuke caught up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. Naruto stopped and looked at his best friend.

"She can handle it Naruto. You said yourself that she's strong." Sasuke's face was stoic as always but Naruto swore he could detect a tinge of sorrow in his voice.

Naruto didn't say anything but watched as Mizuki pounded the chair arms and yelled over and over that she didn't have a name. The Anbu placed his hands over Mizuki's own and forced them still so she would not hurt herself. Mizuki's eyes flew open and tears flowed freely from them. But she was still deeply in the hypnotic Genjutsu and she did not see the person in front of her keeping her still. She continued to scream about not having a name. She was growing increasingly intelligible. Naruto was about to move again when suddenly the other three Anbu who had been still as statue's standing about Mizuki, yelled "Kai!" at the same time and then dropped to the floor, clearly exhausted.

Mizuki instantly went quiet and her head dropped to her lap, her hair falling in and obscuring her face. Everything was quiet for a few seconds then the silence was broken by quiet sobs coming from the chair. The Anbu holding Mizuki's hands let go and they flew to her face as her sobs became louder. The Anbu backed away and Naruto shook Sasuke off and ran to Mizuki. He dropped to his knees in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. She jumped a mile and moved her hands to see who had her. It took a few seconds but she sobbed, "Naruto!" She threw her arms around his neck and dropped to the floor beside him crying. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered soothingly to her.

Sakura came up beside Sasuke and they were quiet for a few moments, watching Naruto trying to comfort the distraught Mizuki. Sakura watched with dark eyes. She felt horrible for Mizuki and she still felt somewhat annoyed at Naruto's actions but inner Sakura said logically. "Better Naruto than Sasuke right?"

"Right." She answered herself and ignored the little pang that told her she was lying.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh god did I say that out loud!?" Sakura turned bright red and was glad the lights were still out so he couldn't see. "Um…I said, did you hear what Mizuki-chan said just before the Anbu released the jutsu?"

"Yeah I did." Sasuke said somberly.

It had barely been distinguishable from her hysterical crying but just after Naruto's first outburst, Mizuki had yelled,

"Itachi took my name! He took away my name!"

A/N: I know this chap is pretty long but I couldn't bring myself to cut anything out this time. I think it was probably interesting enough to make up for it. Wanna know what's going on in Sasuke's head? It's pretty clear what Sakura won't admit to herself but is she too late? Has Naruto finally given up on her? Will Mizuki's memory finally return before Itachi gets his hands on her? Questions which have no answers...yet. :) Stay tuned!


	10. Lessons In Tension

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters but damn they're fun to mess with! :)

Chapter 10

Lessons In Tension

An hour later Sasuke was standing outside the unmarked, Anbu building watching Neji walk up the path towards him. Sakura and Naruto were still inside with Mizuki who had calmed down just a few minutes after the lights had been turned back on. She had stopped crying and pulled back from Naruto's arms with a shocked look.

"Naruto-san. I'm so sorry!" She said looking around as though she didn't really know where she was.

"Are you alright Mizuki-chan?" He asked softly, his hands were still on Mizuki's shoulders. He lifted his left hand slowly and brushed some stray strands of hair that had fallen in her face. She didn't notice.

"I think so." She sat up straight as her bearings returned to her. She looked over to the Anbu, most who were sitting on the floor against the far wall clearly exhausted from the exertion of so much chakra. She looked in the other direction to Sakura and Sasuke who were still standing a ways away watching her. She felt her face grow red as the memory of what had just transpired came back to her. She shook off Naruto and quickly stood up. Naruto stood up with her and held his arms out incase she was feeling wobbly but she stood for a few moments, staring into space and taking in all that her memory was allowing her to see.

"Itachi… took my chakra didn't he?" She asked more than said.

"That's what you said." Sasuke said stepping forward. "Do you remember anything more?"

"Not now." The Anbu who had been questioning her stepped up. "She needs time to assimilate the memories that did return. You can come with her to the recuperation room but you are not to ask her anything about what she saw. Wait until she's ready to talk to you is that understood?" The three leafs nodded. Naruto took Mizuki's arm gently and led her to the room that the Anbu had pointed them too. Sakura followed but Sasuke did not.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"You go ahead Sakura. Mizuki needs your attention. I noticed that she hurt her hands during the session. I'm going to get some air. I'll be just outside if you need me."

"You don't want to hear what she's remembered so far?" Sakura asked surprised.

"It can wait." Sasuke replied, watching Naruto open the door for Mizuki. She gave him a bright smile in thanks but her eyes were downcast and face pale. "She doesn't need me around making it harder for her." And he turned and walked out the door. Sakura looked after him for a moment and then followed the others.

XXX

"I take it you've heard about Kurame-san?" Neji said quietly having reached the spot where Sasuke was standing.

"Yeah." Sasuke said back just as quietly.

"I'll help you protect her as much as I can but we have our orders…"

"I know. You're first priority is to protect the villagers and stop Itachi. Protecting Mizuki is my job."

"So how was Mizuki-chan's first session?"

"Illuminating." Sasuke answered, grateful for the change of subject. He quickly related to Neji the basics of what had happened. Neji listened with wide eyes.

"He took her chakra? How would he do that?" Neji asked himself more than anything.

"More to the point, why would him taking her chakra amount to taking her name from her?" Sasuke asked.

"More questions than answers huh? Will she be up to her lesson this afternoon?"

"Of course. It's been over an hour since it ended. She'll be fine."

At that moment, the door opened and Sakura appeared.

"Has she said anything Sakura?" Sasuke said impatiently.

Sakura's eyes dropped to her feet. She had healed Mizuki's palms which had been pierced by her own finger nails when her hands were clenched so hard. Mizuki had been silent, staring at the floor the entire time. Naruto had been leaning against the far wall trying to look concerned and reassuring at the same time which only succeeded in making him look confused. When she was finished she had sat up on the table with Mizuki and smiled at her.

"All healed up Mizuki-chan." Mizuki had just nodded somberly.

Naruto had been just as silent as Mizuki but he spoke up then. "You can tell us Mizuki-chan. Whatever it was that you saw, we'll help you through it." To Sakura's amazement, Mizuki looked up at Naruto and smiled.

"Naruto-san, I appreciate that more than you know but…" She looked back at the white tiles. "What I saw…only pertains to myself. There's nothing that would help you find or capture Itachi."

"What makes you think I care about any of that?" Naruto practically growled as he suddenly walked over to where she was sitting and grabbed her hands. Mizuki looked at him shocked.

Sakura saw the fierceness in Naruto's eyes but how tenderly he held Mizuki's hands. She saw both their faces taking on a decidedly reddish tint and she found she couldn't take anymore. She jumped off the table and quickly excused herself. Naruto and Mizuki didn't even notice that she left. She brought her warring emotions outside to find Sasuke and Neji talking.

She had caught the tail end of what Sasuke had said to Neji though she barely registered what he had asked her. So she looked at Neji and said, "I'm glad you're here Neji, she could use the distraction. I'll go grab her." She quickly turned back inside leaving Sasuke and Neji staring after her confused. She was at once glad for the excuse to interrupt them and also apprehensive at what she would walk in on. She hesitated at the door for only a moment when she couldn't hear anything inside but forced herself to turn the knob and open the door.

Mizuki was still sitting by herself on the table and Naruto was nowhere to be found. Sakura surprised herself by exhaling audibly. Mizuki took notice of her and said, "Naruto went for some water. I feel parched!" She forced a smile so pathetic that Sakura felt all her dark emotions regarding her and Naruto disappear.

"I'm sure you do Mizuki-chan, that was a tense first session." She crossed the distance between them. "I just wanted to tell you that Neji-san is here."

"Neji-san?" Mizuki's eyes widened as though she were just remembering her appointment with him. "Oh yeah. Thanks Sakura-san I'll go to him now."

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Naruto said having come back into the room and catching the end of Sakura speaking. He did not speak to Sakura at all.

"Sure I am. I could use the exercise." Mizuki said with another forced smile. Naruto's face said he didn't buy it at all but he gave her the glass of water and forced his own smile.

"I have some errands to do but after you're done with Neji how about a late lunch at Ichiraku? I've been dying to take you there." Sakura's eyes widened. Had he just asked Mizuki for a date?

Mizuki seemed taken aback and she glanced at Sakura from the corner of her eye before she answered but her smile was genuine when she did. "I'd love that Naruto-san but will you be able to convince Sasuke he wants ramen as well?"

"Feh don't worry about Sasuke. I'll just tell him it's my treat and he'll come." Naruto passed Sakura without a word but just before he reached the door he stopped. "Sakura-chan?"

"Yes?" Sakura said annoyed but relieved. She knew he wouldn't forget about her.

"Don't let Mizuki-chan over do it. Do your best this afternoon Mizuki-chan!" And he left.

Sakura stood motionless by the table which Mizuki now jumped down from. She stared after Naruto both shocked and more than a little hurt. It was pretty clear to her now how Naruto felt and while she should have been relieved that he wasn't going to get in the way of her conquest of Sasuke anymore, she felt anything but.

"Sakura-san are you alright?" Mizuki placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder. Her face was one of knowledge and concern. "If you rather I didn't go…"

Sakura felt her face turn red. "What? Oh no don't be silly Mizuki-chan! It's nothing like that. I'm not a huge fan of ramen anyway. So fattening you know. Come on, we shouldn't keep Neji-san waiting." And she walked out the door without looking back.

Mizuki paused a moment longer watching Sakura. She'd been able to figure out a lot about the three leaf ninja friends and their relationships with each other. She knew about the love triangle that existed between them. They were probably the only ones in the village who didn't know or at the very least they wouldn't admit it. But watching Sakura over the last couple of days, Mizuki had decided that perhaps it wasn't such a classic triangle after all. More like a circle of denial. Mizuki shook her head and followed Sakura.

When she exited the building, Naruto and Sasuke had already left, leaving Sakura and Neji chatting lightly. Neji smiled when he saw Mizuki and she smiled back in greeting. She took only a moment to notice there was no tingling feeling in her face.

"Alright Mizuki-chan." Sakura said trying to sound cheerful but only succeeding half-heartedly. "Sasuke will be back in a couple of hours when you're done. If you need me I'll be doing rounds at the hospital after I give my report to Tsunade-sama." She said goodbye to Neji and left, leaving just the leaf Jounin with her.

"We will be starting in the West training ground today." He started off to the left and Mizuki quickly fell in beside him. They had walked for perhaps ten minutes chatting lightly about what techniques they would be practicing when a chill suddenly went up Mizuki's spine. She stopped in her tracks and spun around wildly, trying to look everywhere at once. Neji walked another two paces before noticing anything was wrong. He turned back to see Mizuki scanning around her with a serious frown on her face. He looked around as well, clearly confused. He could not sense any trouble but just to be sure he muttered 'Byakugan!' and looked all around himself. He could not see anyone around them except for Konohamaru who was sitting at a nearby café having a drink. His eyes returned to their normal state and he said, "I do not see anything out of the ordinary Mizuki-chan."

"He's here." She mumbled darkly still trying to see everywhere around her at once.

"Nothing escapes my Byakugan. Itachi is not here." Neji insisted. "Perhaps you are feeling strange because of the stress of the memory retrieval."

Mizuki did not believe that was it but she sighed and deferred to Neji. She had learned much about the abilities of many of the shinobi of the village from questions to Naruto and Sakura. Especially the Byakugan. She knew that if Neji did not see or sense Itachi, then they must be safe. She apologized for overreacting and they continued on towards the West training ground. The chill feeling in her spine though, would not leave her.

Neji had told Mizuki that they would start out lightly with positions and balancing that day. Based on Sakura's information, Neji did not believe they would get much further than that in only two hours. But Mizuki displayed exceptional equilibrium and after only 1 hour she had mastered not only all the positions he had intended to teach her but several of the punches and kicks as well. He was even more surprised at the strength behind her attacks. He said as much when they took a small break to catch their breaths.

Mizuki looked at her hands and nodded. "I understand. I swear to you I didn't know any of this before but it's as though, as I do the moves, something in my body wakes up and just starts doing it."

"The skill you've displayed so far makes it very possible that you are a shinobi from another village and your skills, like the rest of your life, are currently buried in your mind. If we upped the difficulty level of your training, I wonder what other skills would reawaken within you."

"I disagree." Mizuki said simply. "I am not a shinobi."

"What makes you say that?" Neji asked.

"Look at my hands." She held her hands out to him. Indeed they were far too soft, the skin completely unmarked, unlike the hands of those who had been raised shinobi. Shinobi's hands were always callused; the skin rough and many times, even permanently scarred. "Also," She said looking away. "Sasuke told me that a real shinobi would have been prepared to guard themselves against the full effects of the Tsukuyomi. What happened to me…" She paused as she looked at her hands. "Never would have happened to any of you."

"Sasuke told you this did he?" Neji asked with an eyebrow raised.

"He made a point of it." Mizuki said darkly remembering yesterday in the hospital when, after she had read about Genjutsu, she had made the mistake of asking Sasuke if it were possible to learn how to block the effects of the Tsukuyomi. Sasuke had gotten angry with her.

"How the hell would I know? Just because I have the same eyes as Itachi doesn't mean I know everything about him!" He had yelled angrily from his chair. Mizuki was shocked at his outburst but even more so when he said, "You know why you got as hurt as you did? Because you're no shinobi. A real shinobi would have been able to counter the worst of the Tsukuyomi which you obviously couldn't do. You should just shut up and let me protect you." He mumbled and turned back towards the window but not before Mizuki saw his face turn three different shades of red. She felt her own face turn red out of what she told herself was anger at being assumed to be weak. She would have said more but Sakura and Ino had interrupted.

"I see." Neji answered, not saying anything when Mizuki's eyes suddenly filled with anger and another emotion he wasn't sure if she even knew was there. "And yet she is skilled enough to not only block effectively but hit back with more strength than it certainly looks like she has." He thought to himself. Out loud he said, "Just for fun, let's try increasing the difficulty of the moves."

For the next hour he had her practicing moves he had not intended to show her for at least another few days. As he watched her he realized what she'd been talking about regarding her body 'waking up'. After a couple awkward tries, it was as though her body suddenly remembered exactly how it needed to move and she was able to execute the technique perfectly. "I should not be surprised." He though as she successfully blocked another hit and jumped several feet away. "It is not only the brain that has memory."

Mizuki was both amazed and a little frightened at her rapid improvement. She could find no feeling or memory of having done any of these moves before but her body was acting almost on its own, without the aid of her mind. She had been unable to tell Naruto anything about what she had remembered as a result of the hypnotic Genjutsu, despite his sincerity but she found herself wishing he were here now, seeing her do these moves so well. He would be excited for her and her defences would drop again and she would feel good, for a few minutes. She wanted it so much that she wasn't paying attention to anyone around her and focusing on getting the kick she was trying to be perfect. As a result, when she heard the voice suddenly behind her, it scared her and her kick turned into frantic flailing as she tried unsuccessfully to regain her footing on solid ground. She closed her eyes tight in anticipation of the pain of hitting the ground hard but it did not come. Her eyes popped open as she realized she was no longer moving southward and she could hear laughter above her. She looked up to see Sasuke's face looking down at hers; his arms locked around her with an annoyingly smug look on his face.

"That's the second time you've wiped out in less than twenty four hours. Are you sure an amateur like you should be trying such a complicated move so soon?" He said with a thin smile as he gently lifted her up on to her feet.

Mizuki cursed under her breath as she stood up. She looked at Sasuke threateningly and was ready with a retort until she saw his eyes. He was looking at her and his eyes were slightly glazed over as though his mind were somewhere else. But they shone with compassion, humour and kindness. Mizuki could feel her heart suddenly thumping heavily in her chest. "He's never looked at me like that before. What is he thinking about?" She felt her face turning red and it was making her very uncomfortable so she made her voice as hard as she could. "Would you like to see how well I could actually do that move? I could give you an up close and personal show."

Sasuke blinked back to his senses when Mizuki spoke and his eyes became hard once more. He turned his reddening face away quickly and said nothing as Neji came over towards Mizuki and they bowed their goodbyes. He knew Mizuki was able to execute that kick perfectly. He had been watching her practice for almost the entire lesson although he'd been hidden several yards away in a tree. He'd seen her first fumbling steps turn too quickly into fluid movements that didn't just look deadly. He had been downwind of them and so had heard Mizuki say with absolute certainty that she was not a shinobi and that she had no memory of having this kind of skill. He grimaced when he heard her tell Neji about what he had said yesterday. He hadn't meant to be so harsh about it. "She needs to stop pretending everything's okay." He thought suddenly.

"Are you alright Sasuke?"

Mizuki's voice cut through his thoughts and he barely suppressed the urge to answer, "No…No I'm not."

"Yeah I'm fine. You ready to go?" He didn't look at Mizuki but more at Neji who was also looking at him with a slightly weird look.

"Uh…sure." Mizuki said with an eyebrow raised but she dropped the subject and turned to Neji. "Tomorrow then Neji-san?"

"Yes. I'll see you later." Neji bowed to them slightly and left. Sasuke turned in the opposite direction and started walking. Mizuki followed and they said nothing to each other until Mizuki noticed they had arrived at the building housing Tsunade's office. She looked at him confused.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you about what you remembered this morning." Sasuke said without looking at Mizuki.

"I didn't really remember that much." Mizuki mumbled.

"Anything at all that you've remembered will be considered important. Don't forget that we're also trying to find out where you're from and get you back home. The sooner the better" He said just loud enough so that Mizuki could hear it. She kept her face stoic but fought the anger bubbling just underneath her skin. They made it up the steps to the central building and crossed the threshold together but then Sasuke stopped. Mizuki took another few steps before noticing and threw Sasuke an impatient look when she did.

"What?" He said casually. "You don't need me there to tell Tsunade-sama what you remembered. Or do you?" He gave her a sly smile. " Did you need help going to the washroom too?"

Mizuki could feel her face growing red with anger but forced a dangerous smile. "I just thought you'd be eager to hear what I'd remembered about your brother but if you're that scared then you should stay down here where it's safe."

The sly smile disappeared off Sasuke's face in an instant. "I thought you said you didn't remember anything that would help us find…my brother." He all but growled. Mizuki just smiled with narrow eyes, turned away and walked casually towards the steps to Tsunade's office. Sasuke growled low in his throat but he also felt somewhat relieved. "What happened last night doesn't matter. I definitely can't stand her." He thought with a smile as he leapt up the steps to Tsunade's office after her

XXX.

"Interesting." Was Tsunade's reply after Mizuki had relayed to her all the details she could remember from her hypnotic regression. Which wasn't much. She had been able to describe the room she was in, she had been able to describe Itachi (and had confirmed that he had been wearing the same Akatsuki garb he always did) but she could not recall the hand signs he had used for the jutsu that had been able to take away what effectively amounted to her life force.

"It was too fast." Mizuki thought hard. "It looked like a blur and I couldn't hear the words he said clearly either. It felt like I was in a bubble."

"The red light?" Shizune, who was feeling much better now that she was being included, asked. Mizuki nodded.

"What did it feel like?" Tsunade asked.

Mizuki thought for a moment and then said, "Like a layer of me disappeared. As though I were an onion and one of my inner layers was ripped out from right underneath my skin. It didn't hurt and I know I thought at the time it was just a game but…it still felt wrong." Mizuki paused and looked down to the left, willing the memory to become clearer. "I was happy to let him practice on me but I was always happy when he ended the jutsu. When he gave my chakra back."

"You were happy to let him practice on you?" Sasuke couldn't help asking.

Mizuki didn't look at Sasuke. Considering what they knew now it was a foolish thing to have done. "I don't remember how I knew him before all this happened Sasuke. I don't know what he was to me. It's just the way I remember feeling." Sasuke didn't say anything and when Mizuki snuck a look sideways at him she was surprised to see he looked upset. Tsunade cleared her throat and Mizuki immediately turned attention back to her.

"So he performed an unknown and no doubt forbidden jutsu on you time and time again which somehow removed any traces of chakra or chakra network from your body and then put it back but it never harmed you that's pretty much the idea?"

"As far I can remember at this point yes." Mizuki nodded.

"Except for this last time." She pressed on with an intent look in her eyes.

"The last time…" Mizuki closed her eyes and tried to will something, anything to the front of her mind to satisfy these people who were working hard to help her. But whatever horrors were hidden in her mind, they stayed that way. "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama."

"It's alright Mizuki." Tsunade replied. "What about your name?"

"My name." Mizuki said darkly. More than not being able to remember where she was from, being denied her name was the most bothersome thing about what was happening to her. She loved the name Gaara had given her but she felt that without her real name she was missing something. Something even more fundamental than chakra.

"It's strange. I get flashes of faces sometimes, I hear things sometimes, dream things I can't remember. I can feel the memories just under the surface of my consciousness trying to fight their way out." Mizuki shook her head. "But I can tell you right now, my name is not there. I can't feel it anywhere inside me. Whatever Itachi did, he truly did steal it away."

Sasuke sighed loudly and said, "You really are annoying you know that?" Mizuki glared at him, ready with a retort but she stopped short when she saw how white his face was. He looked truly disturbed.

"Is it because of what I said about Itachi?" She thought as he realized she had noticed something was wrong and quickly looked away, the white quickly becoming red. "Or is it something else? He's so much harder to read than the others. One minute he's being rude and selfish, the next he's being almost nice. I can never tell what he's thinking or exactly how he feels. Hmph. He's annoying."

A/N: So our three favourite Leaf Ninja's are having some serious issues and poor Mizuki gets caught in the middle. But how does she really feel? Will Sakura be able to admit how she really feels before it's too late? Sasuke and Naruto have both been affected by the newcomer but which one's feelings are for real? Sigh I love these guys really. They need to get over themselves. :) Please review and thanks for reading!


	11. Feelings Erupt And Then

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto but at this moment I wish I did...He could shovel the sidewalks for me. :)

Chapter 11

Feelings erupt and then…

Mizuki and Sasuke left Tsunade's office a few minutes later. They walked in a silence almost more uncomfortable than any that had existed between them until that moment. Both of them were angry about Sasuke's attitude and for almost the same reason. Neither of them could figure it out.

"He's civil and almost nice one moment and the next he's tossing insults at me like someone throwing rice at a wedding. And what's with the way he looked at me when he caught me earlier? I don't know what's going on in his head but I wish he would choose one or the other and stop flip-flopping around. It's making me dizzy." Mizuki thought as they walked. She wanted to be angry and hate Sasuke as much as she was sure he hated her but she couldn't stop herself from feeling hurt by his actions. "He doesn't have to like me but does he have to be so rude about it? I don't even know why the hell I care."

"I just don't get her." Sasuke thought, absorbed in his own thoughts as Mizuki was absorbed in hers. "One moment she's sarcastic and downright rude and the next she's kind-hearted and almost fragile. I can't decide whether to protect her or slam her against a wall. She's not as strong as she wants us to believe. She can't keep it up forever but she makes it so hard. She doesn't have to like me but why can't she just let me protect her? Heh. She really is annoying. I don't even know why the hell I care."

Both were brought from their thoughts when they stopped in front of Sasuke's house. Mizuki once again gave him a look of confusion. Sasuke did not look at her.

"You go wash up and change and then we'll meet with Naruto at Ichiraku." He said with all the anticipation of someone who was about to have their teeth drilled without anaesthetic. Mizuki nodded in understanding and hurried inside the house. She emerged a half hour later and Sasuke was waiting in the pavilion in the backyard. He heard her come out and said, "You finally ready?" before stopping in his tracks with wide eyes.

Mizuki had changed into the dress Sakura had insisted she buy. She had left her hair down and it just grazed her shoulders as the wind played with it. Her face was flushed and getting redder.

"What?" She asked annoyed. "I know you don't like the dress but after the day I've had I felt like wearing something nice. If you have a problem with that I really don't care." This reason that she had told herself while putting the dress on sounded fake even being said out loud. She had wanted to feel a little more human after her hard morning but that wasn't the only reason she was wearing the dress. She had wanted to wear it for the same reason that she found herself no longer enamoured with Neji.

"Do you really have time to worry about things like this?" Her mind had demanded as she had gotten changed. "Your life is in constant danger remember?" But even as she thought those things, she also remembered the look in Naruto's eyes when he had told her he didn't care about Itachi, he was only concerned about helping her. The way he'd held her hands and the things he'd said to her before she'd made him stop by complaining of her thirst. Memory loss or not, she was sure no one had ever said anything like that to her before. For the first time since arriving in Konoha, she could feel a little of her loneliness fading and it had felt good. She brushed her hair and realized with no surprise that her fear of Naruto was all but gone. "Also," she reasoned with herself. "I've had a rather dark day so far, I think I deserve to have a little fun this afternoon." So she had slipped Gaara's bottle of sand in a back pocket of the dress and headed out without another thought.

Sasuke said nothing as he followed Mizuki out the front door and down the street and as they walked, he found his mood darkening. When they reached Ichiraku and Naruto practically beamed at the sight of Mizuki, Sasuke realized he was feeling downright miserable. He wanted nothing more than to turn right back around and go home. But before he could say anything, Naruto had guided Mizuki to the stools by the counter and he was ordering. Sasuke reluctantly sat down and ordered as well.

"So how did your training with Neji go?" Naruto asked in between slurps of his double order of ramen with extra pork.

"Quite well actually. I learned a lot more than he thought I would today and if Sasuke hadn't interrupted me at the last moment, I'm sure I would have gotten that last roundhouse kick perfect too."

"You wouldn't have fallen if you'd been paying attention." Sasuke snapped.

"I was paying attention. Just not to you." Mizuki shot back.

"What if I'd been Itachi? I would have been all over you before you knew what was happening!"

Mizuki's eyes went wide. Sasuke's face was reddening as he realized what he'd just said. She could hear Naruto trying all too unsuccessfully to hide a snicker. She decided in a split second to ignore what was obviously a slip of the tongue. Nothing more. "Heh, if it had been Itachi then I guess it would have meant you failed at your mission. I can see why that would upset you." She said as sarcastically as she could so as to cover her suddenly uneasy feeling.

"If that's what you want to think then you go ahead." Sasuke said back just as grumpily as he took a big mouthful of pork.

"Uh huh." Naruto spoke up no longer snickering. "Are you enjoying your ramen Mizuki-chan? I told you this place was awesome didn't I?"

"This was a great idea Naruto I'm really enjoying myself." Mizuki's smile shone but it didn't reach her eyes. She looked at her ramen with downcast eyes and stirred it with no real interest. Naruto looked to Sasuke who was eating his bowl but with the same unenthusiastic demeanour as Mizuki. Naruto, who had long since devoured his ramen decided it was time for a change of scenery.

"Come on Mizuki-chan. How about we go for a walk? Konoha's a pretty big place and you haven't seen the half of it." He looked at her with a small smile and held out his hand. Mizuki looked him in the eye and felt the hot feeling start along her face again.

"First Neji and now Naruto. Am I that fickle?" She thought to herself mildly annoyed but she ignored the feeling. As she placed her hand in Naruto's she resolved not to let anything else bother her today. Especially not Sasuke and his put downs.

Naruto's smile became brighter still when Mizuki took his hand and he turned to lead her away from Ichiraku when a rather annoyed voice called out, "Uh dobe, what the hell do you think you're doing? I agreed to chaperone lunch, not play tour guide with you." Sasuke was still sitting on the stool beside his barely touched bowl of ramen wearing a thoroughly unimpressed look. Mizuki looked back feeling sheepish. She'd almost forgotten he was there.

"Sorry Sasuke." She said disappointed. "You probably have things to do right?"

"As a matter of fact I do." Sasuke said standing up and walking over to Naruto who had an angry look on his face. "And seeing as I'm her bodyguard Naruto, she's going to have to come with me."

"The hell teme! What do you have to do this afternoon? You're only duty is to keep Mizuki-chan safe. Why can't you do that while we go for a walk?"

"I'm not a dog on a leash Naruto!" Sasuke snapped but stepped back, his eyes going wide as he realized what he had said. Naruto in his anger seemed to not have noticed but Mizuki was looking at him strangely and almost fearfully. He looked away and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Fine. You two do whatever you want. I'll keep watch because it's my mission but I'm not walking with you." He turned and leaped away before Mizuki or Naruto could say anything.

"That teme. What is his problem today?" Naruto asked annoyed. Mizuki didn't answer. She watched Sasuke leave with a heavy heart. She thought she had heard something else behind Sasuke's seemingly simple snap and she was sure she had seen something in his eyes just before he looked away.

"Did I hurt his feelings?" She thought for a moment before laughing at herself. "What the hell am I talking about? That jerk has no feelings to hurt. He's just mad because he can't keep me locked up in the house all night again and out of his hair." She grew angry thinking about it and strangely enough, it comforted her. "I definitely can't stand him." She turned to Naruto with a serious scowl on her face.

"Come on Naruto. I've had enough of Sasuke and 'his' way. I want to have some fun this afternoon. He can fulfill his duties without being right behind me. And if he can't then I know you'll protect me." She still had hold of Naruto's hand and practically dragged him down the street.

Sasuke had leaped to a nearby rooftop out of the two's sight while still able to keep them in his. He walked along the rooftops a ways behind them, simultaneously watching them, the area around them, and fighting an unfamiliar battle in his heart.

"What is wrong with me?" He thought angrily. He knew he didn't have any other duties this afternoon. He'd had no reason to fight with Naruto over going for a walk. Yet he knew now how Naruto felt about Mizuki and the idea of following them around the village, being forced to watch them become even closer on their 'date' was almost unbearable to him. The urge to grab Mizuki and drag her back home was insatiable but he couldn't say anything more without seeming….

"Jealous?" The word came unbidden and unwelcome but it came nonetheless. It just made him angrier.

"Ridiculous." He said aloud without meaning to. "It's my mission to protect her from Itachi and that's all there is to it." He said the last and tried unsuccessfully to ignore the sudden memory of holding her body against his. Her warm breath on his neck. The calming feeling of her heartbeat next to his own.

"For crying out loud Sasuke get a freaking grip!" He said aloud forcefully enough to blow the memories to the back of his mind where they belonged and scare a cat that had been walking along the edge of the roof. It hissed at him menacingly and fled past at lightning speed. Sasuke frowned at the disappearing feline morosely and continued to follow Naruto and Mizuki.

Naruto and Mizuki walked around the village talking for a while until the sun started to set behind the Hokage Mountain. They reached a small clearing and sat down against a boulder to watch it.

"They were former leaders of Konoha weren't they?" Mizuki asked, pointing to the stone carvings.

"Yeah all the Hokages get their faces carved into the rock. That's Tsunade-no-ba-chan to the far right. Beside her are the Hokages that came before her. The fourth right down to the first; he was the founder of the leaf village. Tsunade-no-ba-chan is actually his granddaughter."

They stared in silence as the sun's bottom reached the top of the mountain, casting a red

glow on the ground. The red light blazed behind Hokage Mountain making it look like the carved faces were on fire. Naruto shifted positions on the ground beside Mizuki, his arm brushing hers accidentally, and she could have sworn the burning light coming off the mountain was suddenly giving off some intense heat.

"My face is gonna be up their someday. Right beside Tsunade-no-ba-chan's." Naruto said suddenly, spooking Mizuki out of her reverie. She looked at him but he was still looking at the mountain. He wore the look of pure determination on his face that he had shown Mizuki so many times. She smiled.

"You know what Naruto? I believe that." Naruto looked at her with a shocked look.

"Surprised? Don't be. I may not know much about this world or myself but I know one thing for sure. You're too damn stubborn NOT to have your face up there!" Naruto's expression was still one of surprise and Mizuki started to laugh. She heard Naruto start to laugh too and that just made her laugh harder. She laughed until her stomach hurt and tears ran down her face. She crossed her arms across her stomach and leaned into a more comfortable position as the laughter finally started to subside. It was only when she heard the absolute silence from Naruto that she opened her eyes and realized that she was leaning on his shoulder! She sat bolt upright with a red face. She sneaked a look at Naruto out of the corner of her eye and saw him sneaking a look at her with an equally red face. Mizuki looked away, her heart thumping madly. She heard the grass rustle and turned to see Naruto stretched out on the ground, his arms crossed behind his head against the boulder with a rather large smile on his face.

"Something amusing you?" Mizuki asked with an eyebrow raised.

"See that? Your namesake is out even before the sun has fully set." He pointed with his left arm and Mizuki turned her gaze in the direction his arm was pointing. The moon was indeed out and it was white and full. It grew brighter as the sun gradually dimmed and fell further behind the mountain.

"Beautiful." One of the only things Mizuki had discovered about herself the last several days was that she did indeed have an almost unnatural fascination with the moon. She had been unable to see it from her hospital room in either the Sand Village or in Konoha but she had spent the evening before looking at the moon as it hung outside the bedroom window at Sasuke's house. It had been very close to full then but it was nothing compared to the sight she saw now. It hung in the sky, pale and haunting but lit from behind by what was left of the sun's final entreaties before it had to give over its command of the sky. She thought it the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen and found herself unable to look away. She almost didn't hear Naruto speak.

"What's that Naruto-san?"

"I said, that's my lake on the moon right there."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Right there!" He pointed with his left arm once again at the moon. "That's Naruto's lake. I once used a jutsu so powerful that it flew to the moon and created that lake."

"Except, there's no water on the moon." Mizuki crossed her arms and was giving Naruto a very disbelieving look.

"No seriously! It was when we were fighting the last remnants of Akatsuki. I was up against one of the Pein's and I thought I was done for sure. But with my last remaining strength I pulled off a killer version of the Rasengan and blasted him to pieces. The explosion was so huge it reached the moon and made that." He continued to point to a spot on the moon that seemingly only he could see. Mizuki squinted, trying to see what he could. She leaned down closer to Naruto, trying to follow the trajectory of his arm with her gaze.

"See it?" Naruto's voice sounded very close to her ear.

"Not with your arm in the way I don't." Mizuki reached out and very softly pushed Naruto's arm down out of the way with her right hand. She squinted even more, trying to bring anything odd into focus. She thought she had found a small black dot on the moon and was about to chastise Naruto for calling that a lake when she felt very warm breath on her face. She turned in the direction and found that her face was mere inches away from Naruto's! He was looking at her rather intently and Mizuki felt her face turn redder than she thought it had ever been. She heard a branch of a tree break in the distance but her sense of hearing was cancelled out as she felt Naruto's hand take her own.

"Mizuki-chan I…" Naruto's voice was barely a whisper. "I want to tell you…" But he was unable to finish.

Mizuki could not move and she could barely draw breath. She looked to where Naruto was holding her hand and back to his eyes. They held the same look of kindness and affection she had seen earlier that day when he had held her hands and told her that she was more important to him than any mission. That Itachi or no Itachi, he would be there for her and protect her, even if it cost him his life. She heard him say it all again in her head and when he closed the already minute distance between them and she felt his warm lips against hers she let those words and this feeling engulf her. Briefly she thought about Sakura and how she would feel if she knew this was happening but Mizuki was so tired of feeling so alone. Of feeling so out of place. Naruto's kiss showed his acceptance of her, memory or not. It showed her she never had to be alone again. Her defences didn't just drop they practically melted as she returned his kiss with fervour and she did not resist when she felt Naruto gently guide her so she was laying on her back on the soft ground. Her left arm came up and around Naruto's neck. Her right hand was still tangled with his and he slowly pushed it to the ground beside her head and held it there. The deeper and more urgent their kiss became, the more pressure she felt on her hand until she couldn't move it anymore. It was pinned.

_She was pinned and she couldn't move._

_He held her down, ignoring her cries. She struggled against him but that only succeeded in a slap to her left cheek. The fresh pain burned on her face and mingled with the seemingly hundreds of other pains she could feel in her body. She could feel her blood dripping from slashes that ran down her legs, her torso, her arms, and her face. But not only blood. The menacing red sky above her began to cry rain. Large droplets the same colour as her blood…no. Rain that was made of her blood poured down on her face, burning her eyes. She shut them tight and tried to will her mind away from the unceasing pain, but it and low laughter followed her. Cruel and ruthless laughter from somewhere near her feet. She felt another set of hands grab her hair tightly, holding her head still. She tried to yell but the red rain made of her blood was falling faster now, into her mouth, making her choke. The laughter near her feet became louder and crueler. The person the laughter belonged to suddenly grabbed her feet roughly, twisting her ankles. She felt them pushed up towards her head and held by another person who was also laughing. But this laughter came from a girl! A girl who knew what was going to happen but who laughed with such cruelty. Through her pain and fear, Mizuki thought she could recognize the laughter. Her eyes begged to remain shut but she forced them open. She had to see who was doing this to her…._

"No. NO!" Mizuki screamed as she wrenched herself from Naruto and rolled away. The red rain faded, the laughter faded and the pain faded but what still remained…

"Oh my God!" She yelled struggling to her feet. "It's not possible!" She grabbed her head as the tidal wave of memory came pounding against her sanity, trying to break it down. Suddenly feeling nauseous, she stumbled against the boulder and retched.

Naruto had been knocked back hard by her unexpected and strong push. He stood up confused as she started yelling. When she grabbed the boulder and threw up he ran to her. "Mizuki-chan what's wrong?'

Mizuki pulled back from him so hard she almost fell. When Naruto reached for her again she slapped his hand away and spun a kick to his chest. Naruto was unprepared for the attack and went flying several feet away. He stood up coughing and saw Mizuki vanish running down the hill. "Mizuki-chan!" He yelled after her but she ran on ignoring him. "Sasuke!" He looked all around him but Sasuke did not answer either! "He must have seen what happened. I'm sure he's already gone after her." Naruto brushed himself off and took off after Mizuki.

Mizuki did not know where she was going, she only knew she had to get away. Her mind continued to show her images of her pain; her torture and she ran as fast as she could away from the memories. And the people she saw in them.

"It can't be." She yelled at her memories. "It just can't be! What did he do to me?" She turned blindly down an alleyway and tripped over a trashcan. She landed sprawled on her stomach and heard her new dress ripping slightly. This new and real pain brought her to her senses somewhat. She could suddenly hear Naruto calling out for her. She couldn't hear the concern in his voice however, to her it just sounded menacing. She picked herself up off the ground and quickly hid behind another trashcan. Holding her breath, she saw Naruto dash by the alleyway, not seeing her. She let her breath out in a gasp and hugged her knees to her chest. "Why them? Why now? This is just too cruel! Why?" She whimpered into her hands.

"Are you alright nee-chan?" She jumped at the voice. The alleyway was dark and her sudden violent fear clouded her vision somewhat. But she knew the voice.

"Konohamaru-kun? Is that you?" Mizuki sighed with relief. It wasn't Naruto.

"Yeah it's me." He knelt down and took her hand. "What's happened to you nee-chan? You look hurt. Where's Naruto-nii-chan?"

Mizuki held back a shudder at Naruto's name. "I don't know where he is and at the moment I don't care." A sudden idea came to her. "Konohamaru-kun, could you help me get to Tsunade-sama's office? I need to talk to her right away."

"Oh I'll take you somewhere much better than that." Konohamaru answered with a smile as his grip on her hand tightened. Mizuki looked at the young shinobi's menacing yet completely blank eyes and knew the proverbial jig was up. She did not even feel the blow that knocked her unconscious.

A/N: It's pinch time! But if you want it to end quickly with our hero's dashing in at the last minute to save the girl from the evil villain, go watch an episode of the anime :) There's still lots more to come. I wanna say hi quickly to Isis Kaiton and thanks for reviewing every chap you've read so far, you're awesome! This will be my last post before Christmas so I'm gonna say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is you're celebrating. (If you live in Southern Ontario like me I know you're not celebrating all these storms we're getting) Thanks so much for reading and have a great week!


	12. Slow On The Uptake and Late For The Game

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters but I'm having a lot of fun screwing with their heads!

Chapter 12

Slow On The Uptake and Late For The Game

Before all this had happened Sakura had finished her rounds at the hospital and gone home for the evening. She'd been quiet and sullen all afternoon and the other nurses had commented as much but she had just told them she had a headache. She took the long way home from the hospital as the usual way would have taken her right past Ichiraku Ramen. She didn't think of it as avoidance though. She kept telling herself as she had been for the last couple of days that she was okay with this. It was the best possible circumstances. Mizuki would get Naruto off her case and she would be free to finally confess to Sasuke. She was happy for them. Really.

She pulled herself up to her bedroom and flopped face first on her bed. She lay that way for several minutes before turning her head to the left to get some air. When she did she saw the picture on her dresser that had been taken the day Team 7 had been formed. She sat up on her knees and picked up the picture, holding it in both hands. She stared down at it sadly. The first picture of Team 7; Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and her. They had all been so young then, so innocent. She saw her younger self, smiling brightly in the picture with Naruto and Sasuke on either side of her. She had been so happy then. She was on Sasuke's team and she'd finally make him take notice and that had been all that mattered. When Sasuke had disappeared, she'd spent many a night staring at, and even crying over this picture missing him desperately.

"It's not that way tonight is it Sakura?" She murmured aloud without realizing it. She looked from Sasuke's scowl to Naruto's even bigger scowl. He'd been so annoying back then. Always yelling crazy things and always getting his butt kicked. She'd thought of him as being so useless. She couldn't remember when she had first started seeing him as anything other than a complete idiot who drove her crazy. But little by little she had begun to respect him. The outbursts that used to annoy her started to make her smile. His optimism and determination were so infectious, she found herself believing in him more and more. When Sasuke had disappeared and Naruto had failed to bring him back she said she would fight with him next time and she had. All those years had passed and she had grown stronger while watching over him. Making him supplements, healing him when he needed it (which was often) and giving a smack upside the head when he needed it (which was much more often). His determination to bring Sasuke back and to keep his word to her had given her the strength and determination to put up with Tsunade's brutal training. She had become strong herself and she knew it was because of Naruto. Her entire growth as a shinobi had all been for Naruto's sake, so she could be of use to him. She was proud to be his friend and happy to just be around him. But that feeling had scared her. She'd been so used to loving Sasuke that the feelings that crept up on her for Naruto terrified her. So she hid her feelings deep inside, worried that loving Naruto meant forgetting about Sasuke. Naruto was always so passionate about everything. She was afraid of that passion, so she had hidden her feelings deep inside, cowardly clinging on to her ultimately fading love of Sasuke. He wasn't there so she could have her feelings and not have to do anything about them. And when he had come home, her heart had grasped onto the past like someone drowning, grabbing onto anything, just to keep afloat. The bond that had formed between her and Naruto had begun to stretch thin. The closeness they had shared was replaced more and more with confusion and denial. But even despite that he had always protected her, had always been there to make her smile, he had always loved her…

"Until now. Oh God what have I done?" She whispered as a tear fell from her cheek and hit the glass picture. "It's too late."

She left the house not long after the sun began to set, needing some fresh air. She walked aimlessly, her mind a million miles away, berating herself again and again for not listening to her heart sooner. But Naruto would not notice her tears this time. He wouldn't smile, wipe them away and tell her to cheer up. It was too late. Mizuki had taken what Sakura's pride and fear had not let her. He was gone, forever out of her reach. All she had left now was…

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here? What happened?" Each question got louder as Sakura first noticed that Mizuki was not with him and also that he had a rather large cut on his forearm. She rushed to him, grabbed it and began to heal it with her chakra.

"I thought Naruto and the girl could use some time alone." Sasuke said before noticing Sakura's face. "I'm sorry Sakura."

"For what?" Sakura put on her best smile. "It's hard to be on a date with three people. I'm sure they'll be fine for a little while." She hoped that Sasuke would miss the fact that her voice had cracked at the end of the sentence. She hadn't even noticed that Sasuke had stopped using Mizuki's name. "How did you hurt your arm?" She asked desperately trying to steer the subject away from Naruto and Mizuki alone.

Sasuke didn't answer at first. He looked away from Sakura and she was surprised to see he looked upset.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke didn't want to tell her what he had seen. He didn't want to talk about it at all. He had been watching silently from a tree a few dozen yards away as Naruto and Mizuki sat and talked. He had heard her practically call Naruto a liar when he tried to convince her he'd actually put a hole in the moon. When she had leaned in close to Naruto, when Naruto had taken her hand. He had wanted to look away but he was powerless to ignore what he knew would happen. Before he knew what he had done, a branch had snapped off in his hand, cutting his arm in the process. The sound had been like a gunshot in the suddenly far too quiet clearing, he was sure they'd hear it. But they had become lost in each other and when Naruto leaned in and kissed her, something in Sasuke snapped. Without a second thought, he had leapt from the tree and run away from there as fast as he could. And he had kept right on running. Away from Naruto and Mizuki and away from the unwanted and annoying but very real pain he could no longer deny in his heart. Until now when had run into Sakura. And now as Sakura stood there healing his arm, he wanted nothing more than to heal that pain in his chest.

"Sakura?"

"Yes Sasuke-kun?" Sakura had finished healing his cut but she was still concerned for him. She tried to force her brightest smile.

"You've always liked me right?"

"Huh?" Sakura looked at him wide-eyed. "Where is this coming from now?" She thought feeling suddenly nervous.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and gave a small smile. Sakura had loved him for years before Naruto had even come along. She would take away this horrible feeling of confusion that silly girl had brought upon him. He could confess to her, it would make her happy and he figured he could be happy with that. Before Sakura could say anything more, Sasuke took her hands in one of his and with his other hand he brushed away a stray lock of hair from her face.

Sakura could feel herself shaking like a leaf. All of a sudden, after all these years, her dream was coming true. So why was she so scared?

"You love Naruto, not Sasuke." Inner Sakura yelled at her.

"But Naruto loves Mizuki-chan." Sakura thought back. "I've lost him. So what's the harm in loving Sasuke-kun again? Especially if he's finally realized he loves me back."

"He's hurting can't you see that? Something obviously happened and that's the only reason…" But Sakura tuned her inner voice out. Naruto. Sasuke. It made no difference to her. She could be happy with either of them. She looked at Sasuke with her own small smile and before he could do anything else, Sakura leaned up and kissed him.

XXX

Naruto had been running for several minutes but could not find Mizuki anywhere. He had also not seen hide or hair of Sasuke in that time which annoyed him greatly. "If he's found her why doesn't he come out and say so? He must have seen everything, even if he's afraid of approaching her knowing how she feels about him he could at least come tell me where she is! Dammit teme where are you?"

He turned another corner and skidded to halt. There, under a streetlight, stood Sasuke and Sakura in an embrace! Naruto wanted to yell out to them but shock paralysed him. He didn't know how long he stood there watching them kiss but with every second that passed he got angrier.

"Sakura-chan." He whispered. He felt his heart drop into his stomach but almost immediately the horrified look on Mizuki's face burst its way to the front of his mind. He broke his paralysis and ran over to the other two.

"What the hell are you two doing!?" The yell brought Sasuke and Sakura back to their senses and they parted as Naruto reached them. Both look winded and unsure of what had just happened. But Naruto ignored that for now. He looked at Sasuke with venom.

"Teme! Just what the hell is going on? Why aren't you going after Mizuki-chan?"

"Huh? The girl! What do you mean?" Sasuke said turning away from Sakura quickly. "Where is she?"

"She ran off after…wait a minute how could you not know? Weren't you there?" Naruto's voice got higher as he started to put two and two together.

"Naruto it's not what it looks like!" Sakura said desperately. "We didn't plan this it just happened!"

"I'll tell you what happened!" Naruto yelled. "You took off Sasuke when you were supposed to be watching her and now she's gone and I can't find her!"

Sakura gasped. "What happened Naruto?" She tried to say but was cut off by Sasuke.

"You mean I was supposed to sit there and watch you tongue wrestle her?"

"Oh so you came to find Sakura-chan to do a little tongue wrestling of your own?" Naruto yelled back a little too bitterly. "You're supposed to protect her!"

"What about you?" Sasuke yelled back loudly. Naruto shut up quickly. "You've been complaining ever since we got back that you weren't chosen to protect her and now when she needs you the most you lose her. It's no wonder Tsunade-sama didn't choose you." Sasuke knew he'd pushed a very large button so he wasn't surprised when Naruto's fist suddenly connected with his face, knocking him backwards.

"Naruto! Stop!" Sakura leapt forward.

Naruto stood just behind Sakura breathing heavily. Sasuke got to his feet also panting. Sakura stood in between them, her hand already in a black leather glove and clenched tightly. "Next one of you to move an inch gets this down their throat you hear me?" She yelled. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke moved. They both knew better than to mess with Sakura when the gloves went on. When they seemed to relax she lowered her fist and looked at Naruto. "What happened?"

"I…I don't know." Naruto said helplessly. "One minute things were fine the next she knocks me across the field and she runs away screaming that it's not possible. Whatever 'it' is. I've been looking for almost twenty minutes but I haven't been able to find her. If she hears me she's not coming out."

Sasuke felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck. "She's remembered something and it sounds as thought it's just what I feared. I shouldn't have left. Dammit." He thought angrily. Out loud he spoke in his calmest voice. "We've got to find her. We'll split up and search from this spot. If you run into anyone else have him or her help you. She may not respond to us."

"Why wouldn't she respond to us Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Just trust me on this one Sakura." Sasuke scowled at Naruto. "We can argue over who's to blame later. Let's just find her." Naruto nodded and all three shinobi's leapt off in different directions.

XXX

Sasuke ran North, towards Tsunade's office. "If she has any sense, she'd try to get there. It would probably be safest to her. But who was to say she had control over her senses right now? I should have said something sooner." Sasuke thought angrily. "I could have told at least Tsunade about my suspicions. But I didn't want to believe it. It just seemed too horrible and cruel. I can't believe he made her see us torturing her. And why us? There was no way he could have known that we would be dispatched to the sand village. What is his real objective?" He ran on, his Sharingan turning night to brighter than daylight. He looked all around him for any sign of Mizuki's whereabouts. "Damn you Itachi you will not win!"

XXX

Sakura ran Westward, towards the Hokage Mountain. She was extremely worried about Mizuki and even more worried about what Sasuke had said about her not responding to them. "He knows something. Why didn't he tell us?" She thought as she ran, eyes searching everywhere for any trace of Mizuki but also anyone else who she could enlist in helping to find her. Her lips still tingled where they had met Sasuke's and surprisingly, or perhaps not so much, Sakura wasn't thinking too much about it. The thought she had given to it right after they had all split up had led to one emotion. Disappointment.

"It wasn't me he was kissing." She thought and although she might have felt angry with that, she would have been lying if she said her mind was totally on Sasuke as well. Her heart felt disappointment not at the realization that Sasuke really wasn't in love with her, but at her hearts final realization that it was Naruto she was in love with. Naruto was the only one she wanted to be with. And although she thought she knew now what was in Sasuke's heart, also disappointing was that they couldn't make each other happy, despite the fact that the ones they both wanted were now completely out of their reach.

"Boy have we ever screwed this up." She thought with a humourless grin. She ran on.

XXX

Naruto wasn't really running in any one direction. He was leaping haphazardly all over the place calling Mizuki's name. He was sure both Sasuke and Sakura would yell at him for being so all over the place but they hadn't seen Mizuki's face. Or the look in her eyes.

"She was terrified of me." Naruto thought darkly. "Even more so then than at any time in the sand village. She must have remembered something but why then and what would it have had to do with me?" He was extremely fearful for Mizuki's safety but at the same time he couldn't get the picture of Sakura and Sasuke embracing by the streetlight out of his head. At that one moment, before he had thought of Mizuki, he felt like his heart had been squeezed in a vice. Pain he never thought he would feel radiated through his chest. "That's what it feels like to have your heart broken." He thought. Unnoticed tears formed in his eyes and momentarily blurred his vision so he did not notice the figure that suddenly leapt out in front of him. The figure moved just in time to keep from being plowed over and grabbed Naruto's collar hard from the back, forcing him to stop.

"Naruto! What the hell is going on? Where are you going at this hour?" Naruto blinked a few times until his vision was focused.

"Shikamaru! Where did you come from?"

"I'm on patrol with the other chuunin teams that were called in when security was tightened even more. It seems Uchiha Itachi has been sighted inside the village's defences." Shikamaru sighed. "It's such a bother but until he's captured I have no choice. But what are you doing?"

"It's Mizuki-chan!"

"Who? Oh the girl everyone's been talking about. I haven't met her yet. I hear she's a real hassle to deal with."

"You've been talking to Sasuke." Naruto groaned. "But forget about that. You've got to help me find her! She's in trouble!"

"You mean you lost her!" Shikamaru asked shocked. "Where's Sasuke? Wasn't he supposed to be looking after her?"

"I'll explain on the way we just have to find her quickly Shikamaru come on!" Naruto grabbed Shikamaru by the arm and hauled him away.

XXX

Sasuke reached Tsunade's office just as a squad of Anbu arrived. Tsunade was waiting outside with a very severe look on her face. A look that grew even worse when she saw Sasuke.

"Sasuke! What are you doing here? I just now sent a messenger to find you. We have a confirmed eye witness to Itachi being inside the village walls. You must hide Mizuki and yourself carefully until we can deal with…where is Mizuki?"

Sasuke looked away feeling ashamed. "Tsunade-sama, there's something I have to tell you and we don't have much time."

XXX

Sakura reached the spot where Naruto had last been with Mizuki. She figured it would be as good a place as any to start looking.

"Naruto said she took off to the left." She said aloud and began running in that direction. "If she was as panicked as Sasuke believes then she probably would have been running recklessly. Without paying too much attention to what was around her, the safest thing to do would be to run in a straight line." Sakura followed her own directions as she spoke them aloud. "This street has very few turn offs anyway. Naruto said he began chasing and calling after her just a few minutes later. If she had heard him she would have wanted to hide." Measuring out the time in her head, Sakura stopped when she reached the most likely spot for Mizuki to have heard Naruto pursuing her. To her left were store front shops, to her right was a dark alleyway. Sakura smiled grimly and entered the alleyway.

She had taken no more than ten paces when she heard a low groaning coming from the darkness. Tensing herself for attack, Sakura began gathering chakra to her hands and took out a kunai from her fanny pack. She slowly advanced, slipping carefully around a fallen trashcan. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the alleyway until she could see a pair of pant covered legs sticking out from behind another trashcan. Another groan issued from just above that and she said as forcefully as she could, "Who's there? You'd better answer."

"Nee-chan?" A hoarse whisper replied.

"Konohamaru-kun!" Sakura rushed forward and saw the young shinobi lying face down on the pavement. He was trying to lift himself up off the ground and Sakura immediately took his arm to help him. She got him into a sitting position and he rubbed his head with a soft whimper. "Konohamaru-kun what happened?"

"He took her! He took Mizuki nee-chan! I tried to stop him but I couldn't do anything to help." Konohamaru looked down ashamed.

"Itachi?" Sakura felt her blood run cold. "Can you stand Konohamaru-kun? We've got to get to Tsunade-sama's office right away. Tell me everything you remember on the way." Konohamaru nodded earnestly and they both leapt off.

They reached the main building just as Neji and Kakashi did. The all landed in front of Tsunade and Sasuke at the same time, all exchanging surprised looks.

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked quickly. "What's this I hear about Itachi being sighted in the village?"

"It gets worse than that." Tsunade and Sakura said at the same time. They looked at each other wide-eyed. "I have something to tell you." They both said at the same time again.

XXX

"Are you serious Naruto?" Shikamaru asked surprised as he and Naruto ran through the streets, still looking for Mizuki. "You kissed her? I mean…I always figured that you and…"

"Never mind that! It's not important right now!" Naruto yelled back bitterly. Shikamaru just looked away and shook his head.

"This is why women are such a bother." They ran on for a few more minutes when Shikamaru stopped suddenly. "Naruto what are we doing?"

"What the hell do you think we're doing? Looking for Mizuki-chan!"

"And running around like chickens with our head's cut off is getting us where?"

"Well I don't know where she went! All we can do is look right?"

"Hmmm." Shikamaru closed his eyes and laced his hands together. He stayed that way for a few minutes until Naruto couldn't take it any more.

"Shikamaru come on! I know you're trying to come up with a plan but you need to do it faster! Itachi may have gotten to Mizuki-chan already!"

"But how could he get to her? He doesn't know where she is. And where he was sighted earlier was no where near where she was last seen. Unless…" Shikamaru's eyes popped open suddenly. "This is bad. How come I didn't think of this before? Come on Naruto!" He took off in the opposite direction they'd just been running in.

"The hell? Shikamaru what? What have you thought of?"

"I'll explain on the way just come on!" Shikamaru yelled behind him. As he ran he thought, "I hope we run into some Anbu that we can take along with us. I really don't fancy the idea of going up against someone like Itachi with just me and Naruto."

XXX

Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi ran towards the end of town where Sasuke's house was. All were disturbed and angry to the core and it showed in their speed.

Tsunade and Sakura had both been able to get their stories out, with obvious help from Sasuke and Konohamaru.

"She saw us?" Sakura asked in a sick voice. "We did that to her? Are you sure Sasuke?"

"Yeah." Sasuke answered quietly. "I wish I weren't."

"But how?" Kakashi asked. "There's no way that Itachi could have known that we'd be sent to the sand village. Frankly, we may never have met Mizuki-chan at all. So why?"

"I don't remember much before he hit me but he said something about pain." Konohamaru said, seeming to think hard. "Something about nee-chan's pain being right where he wanted it."

"Her pain?" Tsunade said suddenly, her eyes going wide. "That's right. What's the one thing about this whole situation that's made no sense? He wants his eyesight back that much makes perfect sense. But his intentions that we have seen so far have been to cause intolerable pain to both her body and her mind. We thought he just wanted her eyes and couldn't figure out why he was torturing her so but what if to get her eyes from her and have them work for him she has to be in a broken state? A state where her body is empty of chakra and sanity, maybe even close to death?" Tsunade closed her eyes and appeared to be thinking hard.

"Shishou?" Sakura asked uncertainly.

"He's developed a jutsu to get his vision back. He also developed a jutsu so powerful that he took Mizuki's chakra from her while managing to keep her alive. He tortured her through Genjutsu and made her see the people who he was sure would be sent to the sand village. That's why he let himself be seen by the Kazekage and the medical Nin! He knew they would tell us who it was and we would send Sasuke and Team 7! So he made her see Team 7 torturing her so that she would be all the more frightened and confused…" Tsunade was mumbling to herself more than anything but the others were getting more excited the more she spoke.

"He wasn't surprised to hear she'd lost her memory when he attacked in the sand village." Sasuke thought back. "He said he was going to kill her but he just performed the Tsukuyomi again. He had to have known we'd defeat him and save her, attacking in broad daylight with all of us around like he did. Use of the Tsukuyomi always affected him badly, even before he lost his eyesight. It just happened that Naruto was the one who got the lucky hit and made him leave."

"You can't mean…" Kakashi said menacingly.

Tsunade and Sasuke looked at each other and nodded. Sasuke said, "He knows exactly what he's doing and he's known all along exactly how this would play out. He knew we'd be sent to retrieve Mizuki. He was almost pleased when he realized she had amnesia as that would have increased her fear and confusion. He probably figured that at least Naruto would have won her over and she would begin to trust us making it even more painful when she finally remembered the truth."

"Like she just did." Sakura said darkly.

"Once we brought her back to Konoha we thought it would take a lot of effort to get her memory back because of her lack of chakra but he had planned that out too. After her first session started to unlock the gate barring her memories he knew it wouldn't be long before those memories started to spill out. All they needed was trigger. And that was Naruto. He knew she'd freak out when the memories came back. He was waiting until the right moment and I gave it to him by taking off when I did." Sasuke's face couldn't have gotten any darker. "I just handed him Mizuki on a silver platter." He shook with rage. "He knew I would…the bastard used my feelings against me; just like he did before. I fell for it again!" He thought bitterly. "I will get her back if it's the last thing I do. I owe her that much."

Tsunade looked at Konohamaru. "Do you remember Uchiha saying anything more?"

"Ummm." Konohamaru once again looked to be thinking hard. "He said something about tatami mats. Oh I can't remember." He squinted his eyes in concentration.

Sasuke looked at Konohamaru hard. "It's alright Konohamaru. I think I know what he was talking about." He said knowingly. "The secret room in the old Nankno Shrine." He looked to Kakashi and Sakura. "Come on. We don't have much time. If we're not too late already."

A/N: My first posting of 2009! Of course I had made the goal that the whole thing would be finished by the end of the year but we can see how well that turned out. Got guitar hero Aerosmith for x-mas so I've been a little distracted. :p So our lovely Mizuki-chan has really screwed up the trio of leaf friends hasn't she? Can this possibly have a happy ending? Prepare yourself for a twisty/turny type of surprise next chapter! As if there hasn't been enough 180 turns already right? All my best for a great 2009 for everyone! Thanks for reading!


	13. Tricked And Trapped

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters therein. Santa didn't bring them to me for Christmas like I asked :p

Chapter 13

Tricked and Trapped

When Mizuki awoke the first thing she felt was pain from a knot behind her left ear. The second thing she felt were the hot tracks of the unceasing tears running down her face. She reached up and wiped her eyes and she noticed that she was unbound. Still feeling a little dizzy, she propped herself up on her hands and blinked several times, trying to bring her vision to focus. It was dark wherever she was and she could not make out much detail. She forced herself into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes hard. The tears though would not stop leaking from them. Her mouth twisted in a horrible grimace and she heard herself whimper.

"I can't believe it." She whispered as she drew her knees up to her face and buried her head in her arms. "All this time. Everything I felt. How could I have been so stupid?" She was horrified by what she had remembered and even more so about how her friends would feel learning what she knew. She could not stop herself from crying but her voice was hard when she said, "I guess I played my part just perfectly didn't I Itachi?" She raised her head when she said his name and although she could not see him or anything really, she did not flinch when she heard his cold voice.

"You really were spectacular…Mizuki-chan." The voice from the darkness dripped with sarcasm.

"Hmmm I'll bet." Mizuki said with a grim smile. "You stole my chakra and my name, messed with my head and you've broken my heart. I guess everything really went just as you planned."

"I take it your memories have returned in full then?" The voice moved slowly to the left. Mizuki's heart tripled timed as she heard him coming closer to her. She heard a small 'click' and then the room was flooded with weak light from a single slightly blackened light bulb. Mizuki blinked a few times as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden light. She could see she was in a small room with wooden slat walls. There was a set of stairs leading up to a door and just to the left of those stairs stood Itachi. Dressed as he always was, his eyes the colour of cream gone slightly bad. His face was stoic but he was squinting his eyes as though they were causing him pain. Mizuki felt panic rise in her as her only escape route was effectively blocked but she fought it back. She knew Naruto and the others would be looking for her. If she could just keep him talking until they could find her…

"For the most part yeah. I do have to hand it to you Itachi. With nothing but a flick of your finger you made me believe that I trusted you. That I loved you. I would have done anything for you. But of course, that was the whole point wasn't it?"

"At least I never took advantage of you. I was always a perfect gentleman."

Mizuki scoffed. "No you let your creepy illusions take the advantage. I never thought you could be capable of something that disgusting. But you manipulated me into believing the horrible things you'd done in the past were not your fault. That you had been forced to murder your entire clan by the leaders of your own village. That Akatsuki had forced you to join them and kill all those innocent people under threat of death. Even before you first used the Tsukuyomi on me to make me believe I loved you I actually felt sorry for you! I was such a fool. I must have made it so easy for you."

"I admit I didn't have to do much to bring you under my control. You must have a weakness for men with dark hair, dark eyes and damaged hearts. No wonder you were so attracted to my…"

"Shut up!" Mizuki yelled. "Don't talk like you know how I feel!"

"I think I know better than you do. Trying to lie to yourself and to everyone that everything was okay. Appearing tough when all you wanted to do was break down. Making the Kyuubi Jinchurriki believe you held any feelings for him. You've quite effectively broken all their hearts. You're not only right where I want you, but you've brought the rest of them down to a level I could never achieve."

"Why me?" Mizuki tried to keep the shake out of her voice but it was getting harder and harder to hold back her fear. "We met one random day in the middle of a deserted road. You could not possibly have known I would 'work out' as well as I did. Why did you…"

"Do you remember me telling you how special you were?" He interrupted. "That I had tried my little 'trick' for removing chakra on several others but it hadn't worked?"

"Yeah I do remember that."

"Well what I didn't tell you is that everyone else I tried it on died."

Mizuki gasped in horror and she could hear the smile enter Itachi's voice.

"So really I meant at least that much. You are special. One in a million really. Humans cannot survive without chakra or a network to disperse it but you did. Your fear and your determination to hide it drew in my brother and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki just as I knew it would. I hadn't counted on their own "issues of the heart" being so out of control but it worked to my advantage. I didn't even have to do anything until now."

"So glad I could help." Mizuki spat out. "You should stop trying to sound so confident. You don't know half as much about them as you say you do. They're much smarter than you're giving them credit for. They'll find me."

"I'm afraid not. I'm much smarter than you're giving me credit for as well. I've accounted for that. By the time they figure out where we are they'll be far too late. We have all the time in the world." The evil coming from his voice was an almost solid wall that hit Mizuki hard in the chest. Her body began to shake and almost reflexively she reached behind her and grabbed the small bottle of sand Gaara had given her for comfort.

The sand!

"If you're in trouble open this bottle and the sand will protect you. Because it is my will to protect you." Gaara's voice said once again in her mind. She clasped her hand hard around the vial and brought it to her face under the pretense of wiping her eyes, knowing full well that although Itachi's eyes reflected no light, he could see her.

"So what now? If you're going to kill me I suggest you make it quick. I've never been fond of long goodbyes." Mizuki said as nastily as she could through her tears as she frantically began to work the cork from the top of the bottle from behind her knees.

"Oh you are wonderful. No wonder you drove Sasuke crazy. Still trying to be brave after seeing the man you love beat and rape you to death? You still have the strength to challenge me after seeing him and your other 'friends' laugh at your pain? Perhaps you need to be broken just a bit more." Itachi started to move closer once more and Mizuki felt the air change. Her hands went cold and she found herself having trouble lifting the lid of the sand vial as the images began to flash through her mind again.

XXX

A team of shinobi raced towards the Nankno Shrine. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke led them but Sasuke was even farther ahead than the other two. Sakura watched him sprint like she'd never seen him before.

"He really does love her doesn't he?" She thought sadly. "I never would have noticed. They fought so much and he really seemed to hate her. Even now he's probably telling himself that the reason he's so upset is because he let his guard down and let Itachi get the upper hand. He won't admit it but that's not going to change anything." Her heart hurt at the thought. "You can wish it and ignore it all you want. Once the heart has made a decision…"

"Sakura are you alright?" Kakashi's voice cut through her thoughts. She focused again only to find that she was being overtaken by the other members of the team. Kakashi had slowed down to get her attention.

"Huh? Kakashi-sensei! Sorry, I was just…" She felt her face go red as she couldn't think of a suitable reason for slowing down.

"We're not far now Sakura. Mizuki-chan is probably going to need you. Let's catch up." He sprinted off ahead and heard Sakura quickly gaining speed. Despite the seriousness of the situation he shook his head. Did she really think he didn't know what was going on? His students could be so dumb sometimes.

Sasuke sprinted ahead, the presence of the team behind him all but forgotten. "Please say I'm not too late." He thought urgently. "I failed my mission to protect her, I have to save her!" The secret room hidden under the seventh tatami mat in that old shrine. The room Itachi himself had told Sasuke about the night he had massacred the entire clan. It was the perfect place to hide. Sasuke hadn't been down there in years. If it hadn't been for Konohamaru, Sasuke would never have thought to look there. He was angry with Itachi for choosing their clan's secret meeting place to complete whatever foul jutsu he planned to use on Mizuki. He was angry with Naruto for letting Mizuki run off. He was angry at himself for what he'd done with Sakura. But most of all, he was angry at his own heart.

"Is that really what it wants?" He thought of his heart's entreaties as he kissed Sakura. Her lips had captured his so quickly and easily but the moment he felt it, his mind had replaced Sakura's face with Mizuki's. He'd wrapped his arms around Sakura but it was really Mizuki he was holding, just like he'd held her the night before. But the feeling of peace and contentment he'd been waiting for didn't come. Because it wasn't Mizuki he was holding. She was half the village away in the arms of his best friend. Even with Sakura's arms around him, Sasuke was alone; and it was his fault.

"I really am a teme."

His house came into view and Sasuke put on an extra burst of speed. The shrine was just beyond the house. He could hear the others catching up to him.

"Sasuke! Wait for us! Don't go barging in there by yourself. We don't know what state Mizuki-chan is currently in!" Kakashi yelled.

Sasuke wanted to ignore Kakashi's commands but the thought of Mizuki caught in the grips of the Tsukuyomi again made him slow down some. If he went recklessly flying in, he ran the risk of hurting her even more. Kakashi caught up to him a few seconds later.

"We approach in silence. You and I will be the first through the trap door. I will distract Itachi and you will grab Mizuki-chan and get her out to Sakura. The others will follow in after you're out and we will deal with Itachi."

"You don't know the layout of that room. Only Itachi and I do. I should be the one to face him. You can get the girl out to Sakura."

"Do I have to remind you of the Hokage's orders?"

Sasuke shot Kakashi a dirty look but relented. Once the girl was safe with Sakura then he'd be going back in. He would be the one to take Itachi down. Promise or no promise things were different now. It had to be him.

They reached the shrine a few minutes later. Kakashi signaled the others to follow them loosely while he and Sasuke crept into the shrine without a sound. They entered the room filled with tatami mats and counted down to the seventh one. The stood on either side of it and without a sound, Sasuke lifted the mat to reveal a trap door. The wood was old and was starting to warp from neglect. It looked as though it hadn't been opened in years.

"Something's not right." Sasuke thought suddenly. "I can't sense him anywhere. He can't hide his chakra can he?" He looked to Kakashi who had bent over the trap door and was preparing to pull it open. He raised three fingers to Sasuke. Sasuke counted in his head. "Three, two, one." Kakashi pulled on the door which gave way with loud protest, sending a large cloud of dust up into the air. Kakashi couldn't help but pause and cough as the dust flew in his face but Sasuke ran straight past him and into the room.

"Itachi!" He looked around him frantically. But the room was dark. No one was there!

XXX

Naruto ran after Shikamaru. He'd tried several times to get Shikamaru to tell him what the hell was going on but Shikamaru had just run on, urging Naruto to shut up and follow him. Normally Naruto would have been incredibly angry by now but he knew his fellow shinobi and what he was capable of. If Shikamaru reacted to something, you didn't argue, you just did what he said.

So Naruto ran. He followed Shikamaru past the deserted Hokage's office, and straight past Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto realized they were heading East, in the direction of Sasuke's house. But Shikamaru turned away from Sasuke's house and ran towards the gate.

"We're heading for the training ground? Why there? There are guards all over the place, Itachi would have nowhere to hide with Mizuki-chan." He followed obediently, frustrated but trusting in his friend.

Shikamaru stopped on the roof of a house just a few yards from the gate. Naruto stopped beside him. "Are you finally going to tell me what the hell is going on Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru still said nothing but he shushed Naruto as he scanned the area quickly. Despite the large amount of teams that had been stationed throughout the village, he and Naruto had run into no one since taking off more than twenty minutes before.

"Something must have happened." He thought. "All the pieces are falling into place. Too bad one of the pieces is working for the other team." He didn't know who the traitor was but it had been fairly easy for him to figure out that there was someone on the inside giving information to Itachi.

"They had to have been under Genjutsu. There's no one in the village who would willingly help Uchiha Itachi. But the damage has been done. Everyone is probably headed in the completely wrong direction and that leaves just me and Naruto to deal with Itachi. Bah, what a hassle!" He turned to Naruto.

"I don't have time to explain everything but I'm fairly sure Itachi has the girl hidden in this building we're standing on right now." He whispered pointing to the rood they were now standing on.

"Huh?" Naruto looked down at his feet. They were standing on the roof of a decrepit house that had suffered a fair amount of fire damage. Naruto remembered Konohamaru telling him about his latest mission to repair a house damaged by fire. "They had been working on the house next to this one." Naruto looked over to the house next door which showed signs of heavy renovation. They one they stood on was currently abandoned and probably next on the list to be repaired. "But how would Itachi have known about this house?" He asked out loud to Shikamaru. He saw Shikamaru's grim look and the answer hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Konohamaru." Naruto said shocked. "Itachi must have…"

"Konohamaru huh? I see." Shikamaru said dourly. "But we can worry about that later. If there is a later. We have to deal with what's in this house right now. You need to listen carefully and not screw this up by going in there flying off the handle. We've got only this one chance to surprise him. This is what I need you to do."

XXX

Sasuke stood dumbfounded and shocked. He barely heard Kakashi come up beside him.

"We've been tricked." He said simply. Sasuke shot him a dangerous look.

"No shit Kakashi! But this is where Konohamaru said to look!"

"Then Konohamaru was wrong." Kakashi said simply again. Sasuke could feel his anger increasing.

"What now then? He's got her somewhere and he's going to kill her!"

"Do you honestly think I'd run out of idea's that quickly? Sasuke I'm hurt." Kakashi said calmly and before Sasuke could say anything else, Kakashi cut his thumb with a kunai and slammed his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

XXX

The air around Mizuki continued to grow colder and she could suddenly hear low laughter coming from behind her. Her hands were almost completely numb now and she couldn't feel the bottle in them properly.

uhH

"He's doing it again. I can't let him. If he puts me under now it's all over." She thought frantically as she fought to remain conscious. Her fingers slipped over the bottle uselessly. She could feel her grip loosening as the red rain began to fall on her shoulders and face. The laughter grew louder and more obscene.

_Sakura and Kakashi pushed her over and held her down, taking turns slapping and punching her face. Naruto stood above her, laughing brutally with eyes the colour of molten lava. A hot and terrifying chakra leaked from his skin, burning her where it touched her. He reached down with a claw dripping blood and ripped the clothes from her body. She tried to scream and resist but Kakashi grabbed her hair and pulled, the pain forcing her still. She felt hands grab her ankles and twist them painfully, spraining them. Sakura took her ankles and forced them up unnaturally near her head. She knew what was going to happen now and she fought with every breath she could muster. Her head was held still again as Sasuke's face suddenly appeared directly over hers. His eyes were red, black and burning. His grin was wide and merciless. He ran a hand over her forehead and down the side of her face. She closed her eyes and tried to turn away but Kakashi's grip on her head was too firm. _

"Open your eyes."

_She closed her eyes tighter still, refusing to look, willing her mind somewhere else, anywhere else._

"It's alright. I've got you." She heard the familiar voice comforting her. She felt strong arms enfold her gently. Warm breath on her face. She'd never felt so safe. It was just like she'd felt back in the Sand Village after Itachi's attack.

"_Naruto?" Mizuki opened her eyes and looked into soft dark eyes that shone with concealed affection. The rain stopped. The angry, hurting hands disappeared. The pain was gone. All that was left was her, her madly thumping heart and…_

Mizuki opened her eyes wide as she heard the sound of breaking glass to her right. She could feel slivers of glass forcing their way into her hand and she opened her eyes fully, the Genjutsu dispelled. She sat up, wincing at the pain in her hand and was immediately aware of the sound of a great deal of sand falling onto the floor. She could also feel another presence in the room. Her senses cleared but she could still hardly believe her ears.

"Gaara." Itachi spat the word out.

"Uchiha Itachi." Gaara growled his response just as menacingly.

A/N: Well now! Who'd have thought the sand would hold a summoning jutsu! What will happen now that Gaara has shown up and is fighting mad? Will the others arrive in time to help? Thanks to my reviewers and also to those who've put this story on your fav's list. I really appreciate it :) There's something wrong with my traffic counter right now so I can't see how many hits I'm getting. I also can't get a message to the support staff (hint hint if any of them happen to read this) so if you like what you're reading please review! It's a bit of a bummer not being able to see how many hits I'm getting. I know it's something that all we writers love to see. But thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my little plot twist. There's more to come I assure you! Have a great week!


	14. Face Off

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters that routinely make an appearance there. My only intention is to further complicate their lives in an entertaining fashion. :)

A/N: The note is up here this time as I didn't want to spoil the dramatic emphasis of this chapter. It's a rather important chapter and I fought with it for a while..I'm still not totally happy with it but if I keep fiddling with it I'll probably just make it worse. :p Thanks for reading. Have a great week!

Chapter 14

Face Off

"Sabaku No Gaara."

"Uchiha Itachi."

"What an…unexpected surprise." Itachi glowered angrily. Out of everything he had planned out so perfectly, this was an unwelcome surprise indeed. He moved a step closer to the stairs.

Gaara said nothing but he turned his head and looked at Mizuki who was sitting against the wall behind him, wide eyed with shock.

"Are you alright Mizuki?"

Mizuki wanted to say something and let Gaara know she was alright but her lip started to quiver and she could feel new tears begin to fall down her face. She tried to blink them away but they just came faster. She gritted her teeth against the tears and nodded emphatically.

"It's alright. I told you I would protect you didn't I?" Gaara turned back to Itachi and scowled deeply. "What have you done to her?"

"Me? Nothing….yet." Itachi's voice dripped with venom. Gaara glared at Itachi dangerously and before anyone could react, a large mound of sand came crashing through the basement door and flew at Itachi, knocking him away from the stairs. Gaara moved quickly and stood between Itachi and the stairs, allowing room for Mizuki to escape.

"Mizuki, can you walk?" Gaara asked, keeping his attention focused on Itachi who was all too quickly getting back up.

"Of course Gaara. I'm fine." Mizuki said, struggling to stand up.

Gaara raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Then get out now. I will deal with Itachi."

"Gaara I…" Mizuki started to say but quickly decided against it. She knew that Gaara would not be able to take on Itachi alone but she also knew that she would be nothing but a distraction to him if she stayed. She forced herself up and ran up the stairs to the door. "I'll bring back help." She yelled before disappearing through the exit.

Gaara stared at Itachi with his characteristic stoic frown but his eyes shone with anger and anticipation. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time Uchiha." He did not move but a large amount of sand rose up and hovered behind him.

Itachi just smiled.

XXX

"Do you understand Naruto?"

"For crying out loud Shikamaru yes I get it! Can we go now before he kills her? Or would you rather wait until after her funeral to get him?" Naruto huffed impatiently.

"You know Naruto, you should really leave the sarcastic jokes to Sasuke. You're really no good at it." Shikamaru said idly as he leapt down from the roof of the house.

Naruto would have said something nasty back but he remembered Mizuki's comments about him and his inability to use or understand sarcasm. "I will save her." He thought. No matter how she feels about me." He leapt down from the roof as well and at Shikamaru's nod, he brought his hands up in the sign of the ram and muttered "Taiju Kage Bunshin No Jutsu." A split second later, over one hundred shadow clones surrounded he, Shikamaru and the rest of the house. Naruto was a breath away from sending them in all at once when a beam suddenly broke over the charred doorway and fell right on top of the figure which had appeared beneath it seconds before.

"Mizuki-chan!" Naruto yelled. He and Shikamaru ran to where Mizuki was pinned underneath the beam. Shikamaru lifted it and Naruto grabbed Mizuki up and out of harms way. He held her to him tightly. "You're alright! Thank goodness!"

Mizuki knew she was running too fast out of the decrepit and rapidly deteriorating house and cursed her impatience when she first heard and then felt the beam land on her. She was pinned on her stomach, the beam digging into her back. She heard someone cry her name and then the beam was miraculously lifted from her. Before she could gain her footing however, she was literally swept off her feet into a bone crunching embrace. She gasped in air and recognized the scent of the person who had her. She fought like a tiger away from Naruto's arms. He let her go abruptly and she stumbled backwards and would have fallen if Shikamaru hadn't been right behind her and able to catch her. She whipped herself away from Shikamaru before realizing that she did not know this person. She stopped and blinked a few times, trying to orient herself with what was happening. Naruto stepped forward cautiously.

"Mizuki-chan? Are you okay?"

Mizuki spun her head from Shikamaru to Naruto and her eyes went wide as saucers.

Naruto stood above her, laughing brutally with eyes the colour of molten lava. A hot and terrifying chakra leaked from his skin, burning her where it touched her.

"Stay away from me." She said more forcefully than she felt.

"Mizuki-chan." Naruto said helplessly not knowing what to do.

Mizuki took another step back from Naruto before remembering there was someone behind her. She looked at Shikamaru and yelled, "You have to help Gaara. He's in there fighting alone!"

Shikamaru barely had time to utter "Huh?" before an enormous explosion emanated from the burned out house. Sand coursed through the remains of the derelict and sent broken and charred wood flying everywhere. Shikamaru was knocked into Mizuki and they both went flying straight past Naruto who barely had time to look shocked before being blown away too.

XXX

Sasuke and Kakashi raced behind Pakkun; Sakura and the rest of the team close behind. Pakkun had sniffed a few times and started running towards the Eastern Gate. Sasuke's patience was already stretched dangerously thin at this point but he was too angry at Itachi's deception to worry other than mildly that there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the direction they were headed.

"That bastard! He must have mentioned tatami mats while near Konohamaru because he knew I'd think of that old shrine. He really has this planned out far too well. We wasted so much time going in the wrong direction we may already be too late." Sasuke couldn't help but think as they raced after the little dog. "There are no other teams in the direction we're heading in either. They all were called away when Itachi was spotted near the Northern gate. Bastard probably counted on that too. There's no one around to stop him except us. Mizuki, you stubborn fool…please be alright!"

They had run for almost ten minutes when Pakkun suddenly stopped on the roof of a house. Sasuke and Kakashi skidded to a halt behind him.

"What is it? Have you found them?" Sasuke practically yelled.

"Something's wrong." The little dog barked in the deep voice that did not match his body. "Can't you hear that?" His ears lay flat against his head and he started to growl.

"Hear what Pakkun?" Kakashi asked while straining his ears to hear what the little dog could. He felt it before he heard it. A rumbling that came through the walls of the house, into his feet and up through his body. "What the hell…" He didn't have time to finish before an explosion suddenly occurred several yards in front of them. An impossibly large amount of sand flew in all directions and several bolts of lightning rained down on the spot.

"Oh I see." Kakashi said stoically enough but his eyes narrowed. "I don't think you're going to be needed anymore Pakkun. Thanks for your help though."

"Anytime." The little dog growled and disappeared.

"What was that?" Sakura yelled as she reached Kakashi. Sasuke stood frozen for only a split second after the explosion.

"Mizuki."

And then he was off. Racing towards the site of the blast. He tried to keep the image of Mizuki lying dead and broken from his mind but couldn't help looking to the ground for her when he entered the radius of the disaster. There was sand everywhere! The aftermath of the explosion had left everything unnaturally quiet aside from the sound of sand falling out of eaves troves and Sasuke strained to hear any sign of Mizuki or Itachi. He leapt over house after house, ignoring the residents inside who had come to their windows to see what had happened.

He was within ten houses of the blast's epicentre and he stopped dead, hardly willing to believe his eyes. There, in the direct centre of the explosion, stood Itachi and Gaara! Both were still at the moment but Itachi's hand glowed red and a huge amount of sand hovered around Gaara, waiting for his command.

"Where the hell did he come from?" Sasuke said aloud without intending to. He was about to jump to Gaara's aid when a sudden movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He saw spiky blonde hair appear from the sand. A second later, Naruto's coughing face appeared under it. Sasuke ran to his friend and pulled him up from the sand.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto asked between coughs.

"That was my question for you. What are you doing here? Did you find Mizuki?" Sasuke asked, already looking around.

"Mizuki-chan. She got knocked into Shikamaru during the explosion. I didn't have time to see where they ended up before being caught in it myself." Naruto shook himself off and immediately looked around him for any sign of the others. "We have to find them. If they got buried like I did they could be in trouble!"

"Because you're the only one who can swim their way out a sand bath right Naruto?" Shikamaru's familiar sarcastic voice came from behind them. Sasuke and Naruto turned around and saw Shikamaru and Mizuki approaching them, brushing themselves off. Mizuki stayed behind Shikamaru and would not look at Naruto or Sasuke.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked Mizuki more harshly than he had intended but his relief at seeing her alive had sent his adrenaline into overdrive. She did not look at him but she nodded.

"Shikamaru can you take her to Kakashi and Sakura? They were not too far behind me. Sakura can take care of her while Naruto and I help Gaara." Sasuke looked to Shikamaru who nodded.

Naruto looked up in shock. "Gaara? What the hell?" He started to say before looking towards the remains of the burned out house where Itachi and Gaara still stood, neither one of them making a move yet. "Where did he come from?"

"You mean you don't know either?" Sasuke asked. They were momentarily absorbed that they did not hear Mizuki speak. Even then, her voice was so quiet that no one but Shikamaru heard it at first.

"What was that?"

"I said no!" She said much louder, causing Naruto and Sasuke to look at her. She coughed a few times as though the yell had just been caused by sand in her throat. She stood up straight and looked right at Naruto and Sasuke with hard eyes but she could not disguise the shake in her voice. "I don't need to be taken care of by Sakura-san or Kakashi-san or by either of you. Itachi is obviously occupied so I'm fine where I am. Don't worry about me just help Gaara!" She spat out angrily.

Sasuke looked at Mizuki shocked. "I can't believe it. Even after reliving the Genjutsu again and barely escaping Itachi, she's doing it again." He thought with a mixture of anger and sadness. "Replacing he fear with anger and pretending she's fine." He looked to Naruto who's face read hurt and confusion. "Of course. He doesn't know what we discovered about what she saw." The expression on Naruto's face hurt Sasuke. "He was just trying to help her. She knows what she saw was just an illusion. Why. Does. She. Have. To. Be. So. Stubborn!" He felt the last of his patience snap.

"Naruto. Take Shikamaru and go help Gaara." Naruto looked shocked at Sasuke who was now staring just as angrily at Mizuki.

"You mean you aren't…"

"Just go. I'll deal with this." Naruto looked at Sasuke's eyes and even though his first instinct was to stay and protect Mizuki, he knew Sasuke was right about Gaara needing help. Also he knew that if Sasuke was willingly leaving the fight with Itachi to he and Gaara, something was up and it was probably best not to argue with him. He looked from Sasuke to Mizuki somberly and then he nodded at Shikamaru and they both leapt off to where Gaara was preparing to fight Itachi.

XXX

Neither Gaara nor Itachi had moved since the explosion. Itachi had taken some damage from the explosion of sand and Gaara had taken damage as well from the rain of lightning Itachi had caused right after that he had been unable to dodge. Both were still now, taking account of each other.

"Your plan will not succeed Uchiha. I will not allow you to touch her again."

"Brave words. But are words all you have left after being hit by my lightning?"

"Those words are more than enough for you." Gaara raised his hands high above his head. "But don't let yourself believe it." As the last word left his lips, a wall of sand rose behind Itachi and engulfed him like a tidal wave. Gaara brought his hands together and clasped them hard. But he didn't complete the first seal when the sand cocoon was suddenly blasted apart from the inside. Itachi emerged from the mess completely unharmed and encased in a shell of red chakra.

"As expected from the Sand Village's Kazekage and former Ichibi Jinchuuriki. Unfortunately even your powers are no match for mine." Itachi scowled and brought his hands together, making seals at an incredible speed. Before Gaara even had a chance to react, Itachi clapped his hands together and slowly brought them apart, revealing a sword made entirely of crackling red chakra! He held the sword in his right hand and with his left, he beckoned Gaara to attack him!

Gaara growled low and with a few quick seals he raised a large amount of sand over his head and shaped it into a gigantic fist! Without so much as twitching, Gaara sent the huge sand fist hurtling towards Itachi, whose expression didn't even change as he raced towards it and sliced it cleanly in half with his chakra sword! The suddenly powerless sand poured to the ground, defeated. Gaara said nothing but made several more seals at a lightning pace and more sand rose up from the ground and another fist was made. It went crashing towards it target once more. Itachi once again turned it into harmless raining sand.

"Using the same trick twice in a row? I really had expected more from you Gaara." Itachi spat out grinning. "Are you tiring perhaps Out of shape after so many hours sitting behind a desk?" He raised his hands up to make the seals for his rain of lightning once more but stopped dead in his tracks when he realized he could not move his feet! He looked down only to see his feet submerged to the ankles by a large pool of quicksand!

"You should not underestimate your enemy. I really had expected more from the famed Uchiha clan." Gaara said simply. He brought his hands up and more quicksand rose up with them, surrounding Itachi and crawling its way faster up his legs. Itachi grabbed his legs in an effort to pull them out of the sand but its grip was firm. The sand grew up past his knees and over his waist. With a snarl, Itachi quickly made hand seals and a large crack sounded in the sky. Several bolts of lightning flashed down towards Gaara who, concentrating on keeping the sand moving, could not move in time! He blinked and then felt himself flying through the air to land with a soft thud.

At first Gaara thought he had received a fatal blow when he opened his eyes and felt no pain. But then he felt something moving beneath him and he rolled away quickly off of Naruto who got to his feet, panting heavily.

"Really…didn't think I was…going to make it." He said between gasps. Gaara just looked at him shocked for a moment before remembering Itachi. He spun around but it was too late. He had lost concentration on the quicksand jutsu. Itachi had fought his way free and disappeared. Shikamaru stood in the exact spot Itachi had been in just a moment before and cursed loudly.

XXX

Sasuke watched Naruto and Shikamaru leap off to help Gaara and he turned back to Mizuki who was standing ten feet away from him with her arms crossed and, as much as she tried to hide it, wild fear and pain in her eyes.

"You're going to deal with me huh?" She said cheekily and shook her head. "You really are a heartless bastard. If you had any idea what I know, what I saw…"

"I do know." Sasuke said quietly. Mizuki's eyes widened at his quiet tone as much as what he said but her voice remained hard.

"What?"

"I know what you saw. At least I think I do. Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and me. You saw us hurting you, didn't you?" Sasuke's voice was still calm and he took a step towards her.

Mizuki was so shocked that she didn't notice Sasuke move closer to her. Her voice hardened even more and the calm voice disappeared. "How did you…I thought you said you didn't know anything?" She yelled. "All this time you knew? And you never said anything even after I practically begged you to tell me!"

"I couldn't tell you! I wasn't even sure I was right at first. Besides I figured you wouldn't be able to handle it and I was right wasn't I?" Sasuke was yelling now. He pointed a finger at her accusingly. "Ever since I met you, you've put on this show. Big tough girl who's bothered by nothing. You lost your memory, your name, hell your entire life has been turned upside down and you still greet everyone with a big fake smile in beautiful, frivolous dresses as though everything's okay; like you're here on vacation."

"What the hell are you talking about?" She interrupted him quickly. "That has nothing to do with what happened to me! You should have said something instead of letting me find out the way I did. Now I've hurt Naruto-san, Sakura-san, and…you should have told me!" She accused angrily and took a step towards him without thinking about it.

"You see? Even now after almost being killed again, you're going to act all tough and fight with me about something irrelevant so you don't have to deal with what just happened and what you've remembered! But that's what you've done since you arrived here, fight with me as an excuse not to think about it…"

"Wait just a minute. You fought with me and picked fights just as much and you were mean and angry with me so many times for no reason. And you're telling me it's my fault?"

"It was because you drove me crazy!" Sasuke yelled exasperated. Mizuki stopped yelling and looked at him wide eyed. "Watching you pretend while I knew inside you were desperately trying not to break apart. All I wanted to do was help you but you just used me as a distraction from your pain and you used Naruto as a distraction from your loneliness. And now that you have remembered, you're still trying to act like nothing is wrong!" Sasuke sighed. "Maybe I should have said something sooner and I know I'll never understand exactly what it is you saw or how you felt but I could see the pain you were in the entire time in your eyes. The way your hands would shake. Even how you snubbed us just now because you can't stand being around us after what you saw. You know it wasn't real. Even with all our fighting you should have realized by now that I would never hurt you. You should have just let me protect you. Things could have been different between us and…no one would have gotten hurt. Am I wrong?"

"I don't…" Mizuki stammered.

"Am I wrong?" Sasuke said more strongly.

Mizuki glared at him. She knew he was right. But he would never understand how she felt. Illusion or not, he would never know what it did to a person to believe in someone only to have them betray you in the worst possible way. And why was he saying all these things to her now instead of going after Itachi? The barrier she fought to keep up between her and Sasuke was as strong as it had ever been at that moment and her face spoke volumes of it but Sasuke's face wasn't angry or hateful. His eyes were sad and she could see pain and disappointment in them. She thought of the face she had seen just before smashing the bottle of sand on the floor. The face and voice that had ended the pain and driven the horrible visions away. But he hated her! She was nothing but an annoyance to him. Something to be used and then thrown away…Wasn't she?

"What the hell do you care!" Mizuki suddenly screamed at him. Sasuke was just four feet away from her now but he stopped, taken aback by her outburst. Mizuki's face was beet reed and her clenched hands were shaking. "Why the hell do you even care what I deal with and what I don't?" She said a little more quietly. "You're only duty is to make sure I stay in once piece while I provide info on how to find your bastard brother and then to send me packing once I'm of no more use to you." She was still trying to sound angry and spiteful but the tears that once again filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks gave the hurt and disappointment she had felt towards Sasuke since the beginning away. She looked away and shut her eyes tightly, willing the tears to stop. When she opened her eyes again she almost lost her balance. Sasuke was standing just a foot away from her!

_Her head was held still again as Sasuke's face suddenly appeared directly over hers. His eyes were red, black and burning. His grin was wide and merciless. He ran a hand over her forehead and down the side of her face._

She took a wobbly step backwards but her right leg slipped on the debris from the shattered house and she almost fell. Sasuke reached out, caught her and pulled her to him. She stiffened immediately and tried to summon the strength to fight away from him like she had with Naruto but she breathed in his scent and suddenly,

_"It's alright. I've got you." She heard the familiar voice comforting her. She felt strong arms enfold her gently. Warm breath on her face. She'd never felt so safe. It was just like she'd felt back in the Sand Village after Itachi's attack._

"You stubborn idiot. You have no idea how much I care." Sasuke's voice whispered close to her ear. The warm, safe feeling washed over Mizuki and she felt the last of her resolve leave her. The barrier between herself and her memories that she had worked so hard to keep intact came crashing down around her. She fell to her knees but Sasuke came with her, still holding her tightly to him. She felt the tears start rolling hot against her cheeks and she knew that this time there would be no holding them back. She reached around Sasuke's back grabbing onto him desperately as she started to cry. All of the fear, uncertainty and anger that had filled her up since she had awoken more than a week ago flowed through her tears and away from her mind and heart, and it was replaced by the warm, safe feeling that she had been taunted with since feeling herself being carried in the Sand Village.

Sasuke said nothing, he just held her as tightly as he dared without hurting her. His heart positively ached as her tears screamed at him her fear and pain but at the same time, the feeling of calm and peace washed over him so powerfully he could barely stand it.

"I want to protect her." He didn't even try to deny the thought. "I want to protect her forever."

XXX

Kakashi and Sakura reached Sasuke just as Mizuki had collapsed crying. While running towards the blast, they had seen Gaara fighting with Itachi. They had also seen Naruto and Shikamaru run off to help. It had been Sakura's intention of healing Mizuki first if she needed it but when they stopped in front of the pair, Sakura could only look at the two with shocked eyes. Kakashi just grinned and whispered, "I think these two are okay for the moment. We should check on Naruto and the others to make sure they're alright." Kakashi made a motion to the other members of the team to break off and set up a perimeter around the remains of the house and Mizuki. He and Sakura then leapt off towards the fight. Sasuke and Mizuki never noticed anyone was there.

As they reached within one hundred feet of the fight, they saw Naruto racing toward the lightning strike and Itachi disappear from Gaara's trap. Sakura looked around frantically for Naruto and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him and Gaara stand up just a few feet away from where the lightning had struck. She and Kakashi reached the edge of where the house had stood and Shikamaru waved to them.

"Little late aren't you?" He called in a semi irritated voice. "He's gone. Again."

"Sorry Shikamaru-kun. I should have known you couldn't handle this without us. We'll be faster next time promise." Sakura said slyly to hide her frustration. She could hear Naruto start to laugh.

Shikamaru just sighed. "This is why women are such a bother."

"Is Mizuki alright?" Gaara interrupted quickly.

"She's with Sasuke right now and she's just fine." Kakashi said. "I don't know just what happened here but I think she's very fortunate you showed up when you did Kazekage-sama. Speaking of which, what are you doing here?"

"In a minute Kakashi-sensei." Sakura chided. "Let me heal Gaara's wounds first. There will be time for questions when we get everyone back to somewhere safer and Mizuki-chan under proper guard again." Her voice took on the stern quality that came from years of training under Tsunade.

Kakashi sighed. "As you say Sakura. Let's just be quick about it."

Sakura nodded and walked towards where Naruto was standing with Gaara as he staunched the flow of blood from a cut on his arm. She had reached within ten paces of the two when a sudden movement behind Naruto caught her eye. Before she could blink again Itachi had appeared out of nowhere and was heading straight for Naruto, a sword of blazing chakra upraised in his hand!

"Naruto watch out!" Sakura screamed even as she ran and barreled into Naruto, knocking him over and landing on him, sending a sand cloud up into the air in the process.

Naruto felt the wind knocked from him as Sakura bowled him over. He opened his eyes and tried to move but Sakura was lying heavily atop him.

"Sakura-chan? Are you…" His words failed him as he saw the blood trail down Sakura's shoulder to her neck to her face. He sat up quickly in shock and her limp body rolled off his. Naruto looked down and saw a large bloodstain on the front of his formerly orange top. He looked to where Sakura had landed on her back unmoving. His eyes grew wider as he followed the trail of blood from his shirt down his legs and to Sakura's stomach where even more of it pooled around the hold that had been made when Itachi had run her through from behind with his blade. Her eyes were closed and even as Naruto watched shocked, her lips were turning blue. Sakura was…

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!"


	15. Control

Chapter 15

Control

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!"

Naruto slid to her side seconds before Kakashi did. He scooped Sakura into his arms and held her hand with his fingers against her wrist.

"There's no…I can't feel a pulse! Sakura-chan! No! Please…" Naruto hugged her to him desperately, a few tears falling from his face on her increasingly cold skin. He heard Kakashi come up beside him. He tried to take Sakura but Naruto hesitated, not wanting to let her go. With a sigh that sounded suspiciously like a sob, he let Kakashi have her. Kakashi stood up with her and was looking at her sadly.

"I'll get her to one of the anbu team members. Then I'll be back to help you. Don't lose yourself." Naruto looked to his teacher's sad yet stern eyes and understood.

"I'll do my best Kakashi-sensei." He stood and turned around as Kakashi leapt away with Sakura's body. His tear filled eyes landed on Itachi who was standing just a few feet away looking rather calm despite the fact that his chakra sword had disappeared and his eyes were squinted almost completely shut from overuse of the Tsukuyomi and too much chakra. Naruto's eyes dried at once and took on the cold, frightening quality only seen when one of his friends was threatened. Gaara started to move but a look from Naruto stopped him. He saw the look, one that he was sure he had worn when he had seen Matsuri threatened all those moons ago and backed away. He leapt off instead to find Mizuki. Naruto just glared at Itachi.

Itachi's hands began to glow again. "Don't look at me like that." He crooned. "She was not my target. It is not my fault she stupidly leapt in the way. It was her own fault for wasting her life trying to save you."

"Don't…" Naruto grunted, feeling his grief beginning to melt his control despite Kakashi's warning. "Don't you DARE talk about Sakura-chan like that!" Naruto blinked and immediately knew his eyes had turned that dangerous shade of red. He placed his hands together and yelled "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Two clones appeared instantly; one on either side of him. One focused on spinning the chakra in Naruto's suddenly raised hand. The other added wind energy to the rapidly spinning ball of destruction.

Itachi smiled. "Your Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken? Do you really want to risk using that? I hear it's not very good for you." He said smugly enough but backed away a step just the same.

Naruto struggled to keep the red chakra he knew was forming from breaking through his skin. Sakura hadn't been kidding when she said the seal was weakening. He could feel it every day, the monster inside him struggling to break its bonds and be free. And while it was true that Naruto had learned better control over the years, allowing him to continue to fight the impossibly dangerous power inside him; as the incident in the sand village showed, his anger was his weak spot. And now, standing before the man who had killed the only woman he had ever loved, his anger swelled up inside him like never before. Even his shadow clones felt the effects. They continued to form the Rasengan Shuriken diligently but even their eyes had turned the malignant shade of red. Burning red chakra began to seep from the clone's skin even as they disappeared, leaving Naruto with a fully charged Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken. His eyes were starting to burn and he could feel his skin heating up. He had to finish this now before his anger and the Kyuubi's power swallowed him up completely. He yelled out his pain and anger and raced towards Itachi.

XXX

Mizuki continued to cry long and hard, letting out all the pain, anger and worry she'd been bottling up for days. Sasuke just held her and let her cry. He whispered soothingly to her and just like the night previous, he felt her body start to relax. Little by little, her crying became softer. She softened the death like grip she'd had on the back of Sasuke's shirt as the cries became whimpers. She sniffed a few times and slowly brought her head up from Sasuke's chest.

Mizuki had never felt so exhausted! The dam she'd built around her emotions was thoroughly destroyed. Everything came flooding out and it seemed to her that it took all of her energy with it. She could hear Sasuke whispering to her, though she couldn't understand what he was saying, her hearing was muffled from her crying and his arms around her. Part of her mind wanted to shove him away and run from the horrible images her mind stubbornly continued to show her. But her heart felt so calm while she was in his arms. She felt so safe and for the first time, able to release the lock holding her emotions in. Her life as she had known it lay in ruins before her but at that moment, feeling nothing but warm strength and affection in the arms that held her, she felt perhaps she had a chance for a new life before her. She reluctantly lifted herself away from Sasuke's warm embrace and looked into his eyes. The same looked of concealed affection she had seen in her vision before coming to where Itachi had her stared back at her.

"Sasuke…I…" She blinked and at once images of red and burning rain assaulted her senses. She fell backwards and clapped her hands to her face. Sasuke reached for her but she pushed him away and stood up shakily.

"Mizuki what's wrong?" He asked quickly.

"I…I'm sorry." She said through renewed tears. "I just…the images won't go away, I just don't know how to make it stop!" She began to cry anew into her hands and Sasuke moved to her again when they both heard a heart shattering yell.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Naruto?" Sasuke snapped his head in the direction and saw Naruto and Kakashi kneeling before Sakura's prone body.

"What the…" Mizuki began but stopped as she saw what had happened. She gasped and took a shaky step forward. "Sakura-san? Oh God no!"

Sasuke's inside's were frozen in fear. "He didn't. While I was…he didn't."

"Sakura!" He yelled and he took off towards Kakashi who had picked Sakura up at that point and was heading towards him. Two anbu's leapt to Mizuki's side and two others headed for Kakashi.

Sasuke couldn't even gasp as he reached Kakashi and saw Sakura's still form. Her lips were blue and as he grasped her hand, her body was cold but the blood still oozed lazily from her wound. Fighting back panic he placed his fingers against her throat. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath until it came out in a loud whoosh.

"She's alive…but barely. We've got to get her to Tsunade now!" He would have taken her straight from Kakashi and taken off at that moment but two anbu appeared beside him.

"We will take her to the Godaime. I know some medical jutsu's that can keep her stable in transit." The anbu closest to Kakashi said and put his arms out for Sakura.

Kakashi hesitated for only a moment. "You must keep her alive." He said, trying to sound stern but his voice cracked, betraying his grief. "Alert Tsunade-sama to what's going on here as well. Have her send every back up she can spare."

The two anbu's nodded and raced off towards the hospital carrying Sakura. Sasuke just looked at Kakashi and saw his own fear staring right back at him.

"She'll be fine." Sasuke said a little too loudly failing to convince himself. Her pulse had been so weak. There was so much blood. If Tsunade had been right there then she would have stood a chance but now they were halfway across the village from the hospital. "She'll be fine." He said again much quieter to himself.

Kakashi stared at Sasuke for a moment before suddenly remembering that Naruto was still fighting Itachi behind them! He whipped around only to see Naruto with two Kage Bunshins making the Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken!

"That idiot!" Kakashi thought as he raced back towards the scene. "He knows what that jutsu does to his body. I told him not to lose himself over this. Dammit!"

Sasuke saw what Kakashi did just a second after and he yelled out, "You stupid dobe what are you doing? You can't use that jutsu you'll…Naruto no!" He took off after Kakashi but both were knocked back as the kage bunshin's disappeared and Naruto flew at Itachi with the fully charged and deadly Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken. To say it impacted was putting it mildly. The explosion of light and smoke sent back powerful waves of wind chakra that knocked Kakashi and Sasuke right off their feet, sending them back several metres to land painfully on the ground. Sasuke regained his footing quickly just as the smoke cleared. And what he saw made his blood run colder than he thought it ever would. Standing in the middle of the devastation, was Itachi with his chakra sword once again raised and defending against something that was once Naruto but was definitely not anymore.

Naruto's body was covered with seething, blazing red chakra. His eyes were a shade of red usually reserved for the deepest pits of an active volcano and his pupils were mere slits. Two large tails formed completely of the horrible chakra had sprouted behind him and were swaying dangerously like two poisonous serpents egging Itachi on to attack him. As Sasuke raced towards his friend he watched horrified as another tail formed between the other two and grew all too fast. As he got closer he could see Naruto's skin peeling away from his body and just as quickly being healed over and then peeling again. But Sasuke knew that with every tail that grew, the healing would be slower until…

"I've got to stop him!" Sasuke thought desperately. "But Yamato's not here! What do I do?"

XXX

If Mizuki had begun to feel better after her crying jag in Sasuke's arms it was short lived as she saw the wound Sakura had. Sasuke had leapt off without giving her a second look to his injured friend. Mizuki had wanted to run to them as well but again, images of their evil, laughing faces penetrated her mind and she could not bring herself to go to them.

"And to think I was so intent on getting my memories back." She thought sadly. The two anbu were still on either side of her but she could see Itachi was far too busy with Naruto to worry about harming her. She watched him create the two kage bunshin's and begin forming the strange jutsu she did not know. Not understanding she could only watch amazed and a little frightened of the power she could feel coming off him. She was so mesmerized that when Gaara came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder she nearly screamed.

"For the love of…Gaara!" She yelled out as she spun around. She immediately launched herself into his arms and he squeezed her back just as hard.

"Are you alright?" He asked calmly through his bone-crunching hug.

"Yes I am thanks to you." Mizuki said with a small smile as she pulled away from him. "What are you doing here?"

"I can explain later. For now we should get you out of here to somewhere safer while Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi deal with Itachi." He took her arm to lead her away. She would have resisted but just then an explosion of wind chakra and blowing sand threw itself at them, sending them and the two anbu flying. Gaara raised his hands and the sand immediately became a wall that shielded them from the worst of the onslaught. When the wind had died down, he lowered the wall and cursed loudly. Mizuki looked to where the explosion had emanated from and felt her breath catch in her throat.

"What is that?" squeaked from her mouth before she realized it.

"Naruto." Gaara said darkly. "The Kyuubi is escaping its bonds again."

"The what?" Mizuki wanted to look at Gaara but she could not tear her gaze away from the blonde ninja now several yards away from her, glowing in the burning red chakra. She watched as the third tail formed and grew to rival its earlier siblings. Naruto/Kyuubi roared a sound more fierce than any Mizuki had heard before at Itachi who still stood with his sword the only thing between him and Naruto/Kyuubi's claws. Mizuki could see he was squinting even more at that point and was dangerously close to losing control over his only source of defense. Naruto/Kyuubi seemed to sense this and pushed its advantage even harder, forcing Itachi back several steps.

Itachi snarled in pain and frustration. "This is why Akatsuki could never have hoped to get the Kyuubi from you Naruto. This power was too much for even a group such as ours to handle." Naruto/Kyuubi growled and lunged at Itachi who just barely managed to dodge a great, blood-covered claw. "Far too many surprises for my taste today. I guess we'll have to finish this some other time. Give Sakura my regards won't you?" Itachi suddenly released the chakra sword but just as Naruto/Kyuubi took what would have been a fatal swing, he was too late. Itachi was gone. Naruto/Kyuubi's roar could be heard halfway across the village. And Tsunade wasn't even that far away.

She had been running towards the scene of the melee with a team of twenty anbu when they saw the explosion of wind chakra that, even thought they were still a fair distance away, knocked them off their feet just a little.

"That idiot! I told him never to use that jutsu again! He's going to do more damage to himself than to Itachi. Hurry!" She snapped at the team following her. "We have to get Mizuki and team 7 away from the danger area as soon as possible!"

"Tsunade-sama!" She heard a voice call out from in front of her and she stopped dead as two anbu emerged from behind a house carrying…

"Sakura!" Tsunade yelled and immediately ran to her apprentice. "Oh Sakura! What happened?" She snapped at the two anbu.

"Uchiha Itachi ran her thought with a sword comprised completely of chakra." The anbu carrying her said, "She has lost a lot of blood but we have been applying emergency measures while coming to you and her pulse has improved somewhat." He laid Sakura on the ground in front of Tsunade who immediately set to work determining how serious the injuries were. Her eyes widened in sadness as she focused on the sword wound.

"This is serious. There is no time to get her to a hospital. I have to stabilize her here and now before we go any further. The rest of you!" She turned to her team. "Move forward and carry out my instructions. Bring everyone back here where it's safer and take Uchiha Itachi out by whatever means necessary!" Tsunade yelled even as she started the healing jutsu to bring Sakura's condition under control. Her hands glowed a soft white as she focused her chakra into Sakura, urging her damaged tissue to reorganize and heal itself. "Just hang in there Sakura." Tsunade urged, blinking back the tears she would not let fall for her injured apprentice. "It wouldn't be very grateful of you to break Naruto's heart like this."

XXX

Gaara stood in front of Mizuki protectively as he saw Itachi disappear. "He may appear anywhere we must be on our guard." The other two anbu had taken positions around Mizuki as well so they formed a barrier of sorts. But Mizuki could hardly pay attention. She could only stare, horrified, at the blood red creature that had once been her friend. Naruto/Kyuubi, now without a focus for its intense rage turned around to find new prey. Its eyes fell on Sasuke and Kakashi. It roared loud enough to make Mizuki clap her hands to her ears. She watched as Sasuke took a few steps toward Naruto/Kyuubi! She wanted to yell out to him to run but her voice failed her. Her legs tried to carry her to Sasuke but Gaara held her back.

She looked at him frantically. "We've got to help them!" She yelled as Naruto/Kyuubi let out another roar.

"This is not the first time Naruto has lost control like this. They know what they are doing." He tried to sound comforting but could not hide the intense worry in his voice. He had never seen Naruto transform like this. Remembering what it was like to transform even partially into Shukaku made his blood curdle. He could only imagine the pain his friend was in. "They will save him." He said to himself more than anything.

But for all Gaara's hope, Sasuke and Kakashi had no idea what to do to calm Naruto. Yamato had been out on a mission for days and his Mokuton Jutsu was the only thing that could stop the Kyuubi's transformation when it was at this level. Sasuke took a few steps towards his best friend. "Naruto it's me." He said slowly. "Tell me you can still hear me." He got nothing but a growl and a nearly missed swipe as his response. He landed beside Kakashi whose mask could not cover the fear and worry written on his suddenly older looking face.

"We must find a way to contain him before he takes out the entire village!" He said desperately.

"How?" Sasuke yelled back. "Neither of us can reverse the Kyuubi's transformation!"

"We will do it however we can. The safety of the village comes first." Kakashi spat out the words Tsunade had spoken to him so many times. He had never really believed it would ever come down to this but if it meant saving the village, he would have to kill Naruto.

Sasuke read the determination in Kakashi's eyes and gritted his teeth. "Last resort Kakashi. I won't let you unless it's a last resort."

"If you've got any ideas Sasuke I'm listening." Kakashi said quietly, his eyes never leaving Naruto/Kyuubi.

"Perhaps I can help." Gaara came up beside them. He had wanted to stay with Mizuki but she yelled again for him to go help. Her eyes practically begged him and he relented, leaving the anbu left beside her with potent images of what he would do to them if they allowed her to be hurt. "My sand may be enough to restrain him for now." Before Sasuke or Kakashi could say another word, Gaara raised his hands up above his head and all the sand that had rained down on that part of the village rose up and raced towards Naruto/Kyuubi. The murderous creature fought as the sand formed a wall around it, effectively closing it off from the village. The silence that followed was deafening. Gaara lowered his hands but the look of intense concentration never left his face. "He is…too strong. I don't think I can hold him very long."

"You can let him go Gaara. I've got him for now." They turned to see Shikamaru standing several feet away to their right, his hands in a familiar sign. He saw the looks on their faces and sighed. "Already forgot I was here huh? Bah this is why jumping in to save the day is such a bother."

Sasuke sighed internally with relief. He knew how strong Shikamaru's Kagemane No Jutsu had become over the last few years. He had just bought them precious time to try and save Naruto.

Gaara hesitated for only a moment but nodded and released the sand prison. The sand fell away from Naruto/Kyuubi's body and Sasuke's relief disappeared in an instant as he saw just how bad things had gotten.

Naruto/Kyuubi had sprouted a fourth tail and he was covered in blood as the healing ability slowed with each tail that emerged. His skin looked burned away in some spots and though Shikamaru's Kagemane No Jutsu was effective at keeping Naruto/Kyuubi still, the creature continued to roar menacingly and fight against its bonds.

"Sasuke what's happening to him?" A small voice suddenly spoke from Sasuke's left. He turned to see Mizuki standing beside him. She wore a look of horror with tears running down her face. "What's wrong with Naruto?"

"You shouldn't be here!" He yelled. "Itachi could appear again at any minute. You should stay with the anbu where it's safe."

"That doesn't matter!" She yelled back. "What's happening to Naruto-san is more important right now and besides," Her voice grew quieter as her face turned red. "I…I don't feel safe with the anbu. I feel safer here with…"

"It's alright. I understand." Sasuke's expression softened. "But it's not like Naruto is any safer than Itachi right now. In fact this is more of a problem than Itachi ever could be."

"What are you going to do?" Mizuki asked.

"I wish I knew." Sasuke said despairingly. He really had no clue how to help Naruto and even though only a few minutes had passed, he knew his best friend didn't have much time left.

"Sasuke-kun." A voice sounded so weak behind him he almost didn't hear it. Mizuki did and he saw her turn around, her eyes going wide. He followed her gaze and his own eyes could have filled with tears at the sight. Sakura was alive and standing before them!

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled and immediately ran to her, sweeping her from where she was being supported by Tsunade into as gentle a hug as his fierce emotions would allow. "You're alright! Thank goodness!"

"Sasuke-kun. Help me get to Naruto." She said staring at the creature in front of her. It was then that Sasuke noticed she was holding her stomach carefully and her face was extremely pale.

"Sakura you…"

"Not now Sasuke-kun. Naruto first." Sasuke looked at Tsunade who only nodded grimly. He saw the determination in Sakura's face and reluctantly helped her limp to where Naruto/Kyuubi was still trapped in Shikamaru's Kagemane No Jutsu. But for how long remained the question. It was obvious by the sweat that had appeared on Shikamaru's brow that he was nearing his limit.

Sakura reached within a few feet of Naruto/Kyuubi and let go of Sasuke. She swayed dangerously but steadied herself. "Naruto." Was all she said softly but it caught Naruto/Kyuubi's attention. The creature stopped its growling and fighting and stared at Sakura. Its eyes looked at her as though she was new, weak prey but at the sight of her a fierce battle had begun in its mind.

"That's…that's Sakura-chan! She's alive!" Naruto yelled from behind the bars where he and the Kyuubi had exchanged places when its power had sprung from him. His anger had damaged the cage that held the Kyuubi captive and allowed more of it to escape than ever. Now he found himself in its place and though he could have easily escaped at first, when he had thought Sakura dead, he hadn't wanted to.

"I thought you were dead Sakura-chan." He spoke from the depths of his enslaved mind though no one could hear him. "I thought I'd lost you forever. I wanted to make Itachi pay. I wanted to destroy him!" He said fiercely even as his tears of relief ran down his face. He grabbed the bars holding him in and fought against them ferociously. "Let me out you stupid fox! You've had your fun now it's time to go back where you belong!" He concentrated and could feel the Kyuubi's power slowly receding back into the cage with him and he could feel the bars slowly bending to his will.

"What are you doing?" The Kyuubi's monstrous voice suddenly boomed at him. "You let me out to destroy! What does it matter who I hurt?"

"That's when I thought Sakura-chan was dead! She's okay now! And I won't let you hurt her!"

"Why not?"

Naruto's head snapped up in surprise. "What did you say?"

"I said why not?" Kyuubi's voice said again with amusement. "Uchiha Itachi may be gone and the woman you love may be alive but doesn't that only make it worse? Did you forget so quickly what you saw?" And Naruto watched as an image of Sasuke and Sakura in an embrace suddenly materialized in front of him. Naruto saw again the image that had broken his heart and all at once the bars grew more solid again and the Kyuubi's chakra began to leak out from the cage.

Sakura looked calmly at Naruto and smiled through her pain as she lied through her teeth. "It's alright Naruto. I'm fine now. Itachi is gone and you don't have to do this anymore. Please." She took another step forward. "Put the Kyuubi back where it belongs."

Mizuki stared at Sakura. "Can she do it? I mean, can she save him?"

"I don't know." Sasuke said from where he had joined her side. "She's right, the only reason Naruto lost control so badly is because he thought she was dead. But it's been a long time since he's been this far gone. I'm not sure even Sakura's voice can reach him now."

Sakura's voice was reaching him. But thanks to the Kyuubi's interference, it was falling on hurt and jealous ears.

"Sakura kissed Sasuke. I never thought it would hurt so much to see. She really doesn't care for me. It's always been about Sasuke." Naruto had never felt inferior to Sasuke in anything other than who had more of Sakura's heart. For a while, it had seemed Naruto had the upper hand but after what he'd seen...Anger started to well up again.

"After everything we've been through together! I've never loved anyone like her." The Kyuubi laughed as Naruto yelled, "She hurt me! She betrayed me!"

Naruto/Kyuubi began to fight Shikamaru's hold on it again. Shikamaru fought as hard as he could but knew his hold was slipping.

"Whatever you're going to do Sakura you'd better do it quickly. I don't know how much longer I can hold him." He grunted as he struggled to keep it still.

Sakura's eyes went wide as she saw Naruto/Kyuubi start to struggle again. "I thought I'd reached him. I really thought he heard me. Why isn't he fighting?" Her heart broke to see the pain he was in. She took another step closer.

"Naruto please. You don't have to let it out anymore. Don't you remember what I said back in the sand village? I don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt! And you said you would control it for me! Don't you remember?" She took another step. Sasuke yelled out a warning that she was too close but she ignored it. "I know I never said anything but I was so happy to hear that." She smiled through the tears that coursed down her face. "All the times you would say things like that and I stopped you. I never should have. You've always cared about me Naruto and believe me, I felt the same way, even if I never said it!" She started yelling.

"She…feels the same way?" Naruto said shocked.

"Lies! She's just trying to make you surrender!" Kyuubi snarled.

"Lies? Sakura-chan? She's never lied to me before."

"It took losing you to another woman to make me realize it and I know it's too late now but if you still care for me at all Naruto, keep your promise! Fight the Kyuubi, come back to me!" She yelled through her tears even as she collapsed to her knees, clutching her stomach as it started to bleed again.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said in shock. He didn't even think about it this time the bars in front him immediately bent outward, allowing him through. He walked out of the cage, ignoring the Kyuubi's screams and threats as it was drawn back in. He walked away from the cage and into the front of his mind where he took control once more.

A/N: I know that in contrast to the earlier chapters, this one comes after a much longer wait but there's been a lot of drama in my life lately and I haven't had as much time to work on it. I'll try to get the other chaps up as fast as I can...of course a few reviews might encourage me to move even faster...hint hint. :) But seriously I hope you enjoyed this latest installment, there's only a few chapters left, it's all going down really soon. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading. Have a great week!


	16. Healing

Disclaimer and A/N: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters I abuse therein. I cannot believe it took me this long to get the next chap up. Soooo much going on in life...got a severe case of writer's block. But happily, it's gone now. :) Things have been so serious lately for our heroes , I wanted to take a chance to let them all have a little rest and maybe get some information out at the same time. I hope this makes up for me being so lazy. :) Enjoy!

**Chapter 16**

**Healing**

Almost at once, the creature stopped fighting against Shikamaru's jutsu. It closed its eyes and one by one, each tail that had formed dissolved and disappeared. The fiery red chakra faded and Naruto fell to the ground; his mind his own now but the pain and exhaustion hitting him full force, knocking him unconscious. Shikamaru immediately let go of the Kagemane No Jutsu and fell to his knees, clearly exhausted.

Sasuke held his breath as he watched Naruto slowly return to normal and fall to the ground. He wanted to run immediately to Naruto and Sakura but his body stood frozen for a moment at the sight of the carnage before him.

Amongst the seemingly endless shards of burnt wood and sand lay Naruto, blood oozing from wounds that seemed to cover 90% of his body. He looked as though he had been skinned alive. His trademark orange outfit had been almost completely burned away and what was left looked as though it had melted to him. Sasuke had never seen anything like it in all the time he'd known Naruto. "This was bad." He thought. "The worst it's ever been. Is he even still alive?"

"Oh for crying out loud you guys! What the hell are you waiting for?" Sasuke's paralysis broke as he saw Mizuki run past him, over to Naruto and Sakura. It was then that Sasuke realized that she'd been trying to get his attention for the last few minutes. He shook himself off and looked to Tsunade who had been as paralyzed as him but had begun to move immediately after hearing Mizuki yell. She knelt down in front of Sakura who had collapsed from her knees to her back in the time it took for Naruto to regain control of his body. Tsunade immediately began applying her medical jutsu to Sakura once again.

"Naruto." Sakura whispered weakly.

"It's alright Sakura. It's over." Tsunade said quietly as she poured her chakra into Sakura. "You did it. He'll be fine. You need to worry about yourself now."

Sakura sighed with a small smile. She could feel the life leaving her body despite Tsunade's best efforts but as long as Naruto was okay, she would be happy with that. She tried to look over to where Sasuke and Kakashi had run to Naruto but her gaze was blocked by Mizuki who was looking at her intently. Sakura's eyes widened at the look she was being given. Mizuki looked almost…angry with her.

"Mizuki-chan…"

XXX

Kakashi and Sasuke reached Naruto along with another Anbu medic who immediately started to work on healing Naruto's many wounds. He had barely begun before they noticed that several of the wounds seemed to start closing on their own. Sasuke sighed with relief. Naruto's immense healing power had kicked back in and Tsunade was working on Sakura. He could be hopeful that his friends would be okay. He could hear faintly that Mizuki was talking to Sakura but his attention was drawn away by a soft and pained murmur that came from his injured friend.

"Naruto?" Sasuke leaned over Naruto's face. "Come on dobe, open your eyes."

Naruto blinked slowly and his face twisted into a grimace. "Not the greatest sight to wake up to teme."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock but then he smiled and incredibly, began to laugh. Naruto chuckled too although his laugh quickly turned into a coughing fit and more blood ran down the side of his mouth. He reached up with a rapidly healing hand and wiped the thin trail away. Sasuke was still greatly concerned for his best friend but knew that if Naruto still had strength to joke around, he would likely be okay.

"We need to get him back to the hospital now." The Anbu who had been trying to heal him said. "Please watch over him while I get a stretcher."

"Not necessary." Kakashi spoke up. "I'll take him." Sasuke looked to his teacher surprised but Kakashi's mask could not hide his relief. Sasuke hid a small smile and stood up to allow Kakashi to lift Naruto into his arms.

Naruto opened his eyes briefly and croaked out. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"You knucklehead. You have NO idea how much trouble you're in." Kakashi tried to say sternly but he couldn't keep his voice from cracking. Naruto smiled and closed his eyes as his exhaustion took over. Kakashi leapt away to the hospital, followed by the Anbu.

Sasuke turned his attention to where Mizuki was standing beside Gaara. He saw that Sakura had been placed on a stretcher being carried by two Anbu. Tsunade barked orders to them to move as quickly as they could but they had to be careful not to jostle her around too much. The Anbu ran off with Sakura after Kakashi's retreating form. Tsunade turned towards Mizuki and Gaara. "It seems we owe you our gratitude Kazekage-sama. However, I need to know exactly what happened tonight. All of you will come to the hospital to be treated and when I have stabilized Sakura and Naruto, we're going to have a long talk." Without another word, she turned and leapt away.

Sasuke's first instinct was to go quickly to Mizuki's side but he stopped himself, remembering the hard time she was having with the visions that still assaulted her mind. Instead, he called out quietly from several feet away.

"Are you alright Mizuki?"

She turned slowly to face him. She didn't even try to force a smile or tough attitude this time; she knew now he would see right through it. Truth be told now she didn't want to even try lying to him or herself anymore. Her heart had made it very clear what it wanted back in the burned out basement. Whether Itachi was right about her choice in men or not didn't matter. She wanted to run to him. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her again and engulf her in that warm safe feeling she craved so badly but her body would not give her the satisfaction. She felt stiff and cold, her body wracked with a hundred pains, both real and remembered. She had spoken to Sakura, despite the torturous images that flashed through her mind as she did it but now as she looked at Sasuke, her heart and mind were warring over which one was correct. Exhaustion swept in like a tidal wave. She didn't feel any pain as she fell to her knees amongst the sand and debris. Darkness called to her and for once, she welcomed it.

XXX

Mizuki awoke a little while later on a white hospital bed she was so familiar with. She sat up slowly, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. She sensed movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head towards the window where Gaara stood watching her. She looked around the room but they were alone.

"How long?" She asked simply.

"Just over an hour." Gaara answered just as simply. "You should not feel ashamed. Your mind just overloaded and couldn't take anymore."

Mizuki smiled. "You got me." She stiffened as sudden memory returned. "Sakura and Naruto! Are they going to be okay?"

Gaara looked away from Mizuki. "Naruto will be fine. Now that the Kyuubi is properly contained it's helping to heal rather than hurt him. Sakura-san…is still in surgery." He didn't say anymore. Mizuki felt her stomach clench.

"I hope she believed me." Mizuki said quietly. Gaara looked at her quizzically but she shook her head. She felt her face turn red before she even asked the next question. "I take it Sasuke is with Naruto?"

Gaara noticed how red her face had become but said nothing about it. "No, Sasuke is just outside. He has barely spoken since we brought you back here."

Mizuki looked at Gaara alarmed. "Is he okay?" She immediately swung her legs over the side of the bed and, wincing at the pain from her still sore muscles, made for the door.

"Mizuki wait." Gaara called out to her. She stopped just a few feet away from the door and turned to look at him, her face already impossibly red.

"Gaara…I…"

"It's alright." Gaara smiled at the look on her face. "I had thought as much but I wanted to be sure."

"Huh?" Mizuki looked at him confused.

"Never mind. Go to him. As stubborn as he is, I know he could use some comfort right now." Mizuki gave Gaara an almost annoyed look at his little bite at her but knew he was right after all. She smiled and left the room.

Sasuke was standing a little ways down the hall. He was leaning his head against a window with his eyes closed and so did not notice Mizuki approach him. She saw how pale he looked and at once chastised herself for being so stubborn. They're fierce verbal battle ran through her mind once again as she went to him quietly and gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder. He had been completely right with what he'd said and even though she still felt that she hadn't a choice in the way she had acted considering what she'd been through, she felt a need now to show him that she understood. That she trusted him.

Sasuke's eyes shot open when he felt the hesitant touch on his shoulder. He turned his head, almost expecting to see Tsunade there to give him bad news but his breath caught in his throat when he saw that it was Mizuki. She looked at him almost fearfully at first, as though she was afraid she was going too far but he was just so glad to see she was all right and it showed. Her face relaxed and a small smile found its way into her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly. She looked into his eyes and saw shock, pain, relief and hope all at the same time. Behind her eyes, pain and cruel laughter sounded and for an instant, she saw him as through red glass but she pushed with all her might and the images and sounds, though they would not be silenced completely, were at least hushed for now.

Sasuke saw the fight she waged within herself and frowned. "He's done so much damage. Can we ever really move past this?" He thought sorrowfully.

She saw his face and smiled sadly having a good idea what he was thinking. She paused and looked away for a moment as though she was having a hard time finding words. Then suddenly she shrugged and slid her arms around his waist before he could say or do anything. He hesitated for a heartbeat then returned her embrace just as tightly. They stayed like that, just holding each other for what felt like hours, neither feeling the need to speak.

Tsunade had cleared her throat three times to get their attention and she was getting annoyed. Finally she spoke up, "I'd tell you to get a room but I won't have any of that in my hospital." She said smugly feeling a need to lighten the situation. Mizuki and Sasuke immediately separated, both with red faces at being caught in a moment of affection. Sasuke recovered first to speak.

"Sakura…"

Tsunade's eyes were downcast. "The surgery was successful but she's not out of the woods yet. I've done everything I can. It's up to her now." If possible, Sasuke went even paler.

"I wouldn't worry too much Sasuke." Kakashi's voice reached them as he turned the corner. "Sakura's been raised just like a second Tsunade. And we all know how stubborn our Hokage-sama is. Sakura doesn't know how to give in to something like this."

The temperature dropped twenty degrees. Tsunade glared at Kakashi with one eyebrow raised and her arms crossed. Kakashi coughed nervously and turned away from her frightening glare. "Ahem…I've just been from visiting Naruto."

"How is he?" Mizuki spoke up quickly, stepping away from Sasuke. Sasuke blinked at her but said nothing.

"Awake and coherent but he still needs rest." Kakashi said a little more loudly than necessary, purposely keeping his back to Tsunade.

"What…happened to him?" Mizuki asked quietly, looking from Kakashi to Sasuke.

"Perhaps this is a story I should tell." Gaara appeared from Mizuki's room having heard Kakashi talking loudly about Naruto's condition.

Tsunade nodded. "That would make sense Kazekage-sama but I think we all should convene somewhere a little more comfortable than the hospital hallway to exchange stories. The others nodded and followed Tsunade to her office. No one noticed Naruto behind the corner that Kakashi had just come from. Kakashi had skirted around giving him any information about Sakura's state and he was determined to know she was okay. Hiding behind the corner, he had heard Tsunade talk about Sakura's condition.

"Sakura-chan…" He took off down the hallway as fast as his injured body would let him.

He may have been an injured shinobi but he was still a shinobi. No one noticed the escaped patient making his way through the hospital to the critical care wing. There were several rooms in the wing and he wasn't sure how he was going to find Sakura's room without getting caught but he heard Shizune's voice coming from the fourth door on the left. He waited, hidden behind a linen cart, as Shizune and another nurse left Sakura's room and turned the far corner. He waited for another few minutes with bated breath but finally crept around the linen cart and the door to Sakura's room opened with a squeak.

Sakura lay on the bed in a white hospital gown and covered by a thin sheet. Any number of IV's and machines were hooked up to her suddenly small and fragile seeming body. One of those machines was a heart monitor and it beeped sluggishly, registering a barely stable heartbeat.

Naruto silently closed the door behind him and sat gingerly in a chair beside her bed. He reached out through the hospital bed bars and gently took Sakura's hand in his. Naruto didn't know why he was being so quiet and careful, it was as though he was afraid if he burst in with his normal obnoxiousness, he would hurt her again. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and laid his head down on the bar.

"I'm here…Sakura-chan."

XXX

When everyone was comfortably seated in Tsunade's office, she looked at Gaara to start. Gaara turned to Mizuki. "If you've gotten any of your memories back Mizuki, can I assume you know of the existence of the Bijuu?"

Mizuki nodded and her eyes went wide. "You don't mean…"

XXX

"I heard you, you know. I was so mad. I was ready to let it destroy everything. When I saw you lying there like that. Sakura-chan…I've never felt so much in my life. I've been such a jerk. I've been so tired of it all, I thought I could just move on and forget about you. But I can't. I've hurt everyone." Naruto knew he was babbling but he couldn't seem to form the words the way he wanted to. He wasn't even sure she could hear him but he needed to fill the silence and he needed to get it off his chest.

"I heard you. The Kyuubi tried to interfere. He tried to make me believe you were lying to me. But I knew better. You've never lied to me Sakura-chan. When you said you felt the same as me…when you asked me to come back to you…I knew you weren't lying. So I came back. It was stupid of me to let that damn fox out I know that. And I swear I'll never do it again. You'll never have to worry about me again Sakura-chan so…please…I came back for you. You gotta do the same for me."

XXX

Mizuki's eyes were wide as the information Gaara gave filtered through her brain.

"Both of you?" At Gaara's nod, "You know, I think I remember Itachi telling me something like that once. It was when I first met him. I was walking along the side of the road and he was coming at me in the opposite direction. As he neared me, he suddenly collapsed. I ran to help him and it was then that I discovered that he was totally blind and suffering from a fever. I remember I brought him to my home to recover. He was out of it for a while and he said a lot of strange things. I was never sure what was real and what was feverous delusions."

"So your memory has returned?" Tsunade asked.

"Mostly. There are some blanks but for the most part yes."

"Wait." Sasuke spoke up. "If you've got your memory back, what's your real name?"

Mizuki looked down at her lap. "I don't know."

"But…" Sasuke began but Tsunade interrupted.

"It's alright Sasuke I think I know what may have happened." She said, sitting up straight in her chair. "After hearing the results from your first memory retrieval, it got me thinking. I remembered a long time ago, Orochimaru was experimenting with ways to obtain more chakra. Back before the Sandaime discovered his experiments and he was exiled, Orochimaru was developing a jutsu to increase the capacity of the chakra network of the one it was cast on. An unusual side effect of this jutsu was that the person could no longer remember their name. Orochimaru never discovered why this happened and his test subjects never lived long enough for him to experiment further. No record of this jutsu or experiment exists any longer."

"Then how would Itachi have gotten hold of the info?" Sasuke asked. "Presuming this is where he got the idea."

"Oh I know it's how he got the idea." Tsunade said darkly. "Orochimaru's research documents were destroyed to prevent his horrible ideas ever being repeated. But not before they were read by the Sandaime, myself, and several members of the Anbu Black Ops. Of which your brother was once a member Sasuke."

Everyone was silent for a few moments as the implications of what Tsunade said hit them. Mizuki spoke up. "So he took Orochimaru's research and twisted it around to suit his own ends and then started trying it out. When he had me captured in the house, he told me that I was the only one to have survived this jutsu. He'd tried it on several others but they'd all died. He said I was special but he never told me why I survived."

"We may never know." Kakashi said. "It could be that he finally perfected the jutsu or it could be that you really are special Mizuki-chan. There could just be something about you that made the difference between life and death."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin with that." Mizuki shrugged. "At this point, I'm just glad I did survive."

"I promise you Mizuki that we will deal with your recovered memories and get you back to where you belong but we have to deal with Itachi first." Tsunade said seriously. "Although I'm sure I don't have to tell you that." Mizuki shook her head with a smile.

"We can worry about all that later. I'm not in any giant hurry really." She said, stealing a glance at Sasuke who was looking at her rather intently. "Besides, I can't exactly go anywhere without a name and with Itachi constantly chasing me."

"So what you're saying is," Gaara spoke up. "Mizuki's real name will only return to her Uchiha releases the jutsu he's cast on her chakra."

"Or he's killed." Sasuke said sternly, looking at Kakashi who looked back just as gravely at him.

"Have you got an idea Sasuke?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Sasuke who just smiled dangerously.

XXX

Naruto said nothing for a long time. He still held Sakura's hand in his own and he only moved to wipe a frightened and frustrated tear from his face from time to time. The monitor beeped rhythmically and incessantly, the only indication the pink haired shinobi was even still alive. Naruto's body was still exhausted and in need of sleep but he would not grant it's request. Not until he was sure Sakura was going to be okay. Irrationally, he felt that if he let go of her hand and fell asleep, he would wake up to find that she had really left him. So he fought the fatigue as hard as he could.

"Please tell me what to do Sakura-chan." He mumbled. "I should be able to do something to help you back. But I don't know what it is." He sighed and rested his head on his arm. His eyes were burning from overtiredness and he closed them lightly. Just for a moment, to stop them from stinging…

Naruto felt warm. His hand was grasped tightly by someone else's warm hand and another hand ran softly through his hair.

"Naruto you fool, wake up."

Naruto only grumbled in response and turned away from the annoying voice that dared interrupt his nap.

"Okay really Naruto! God you never change. Wake up would you?" He felt the hand that had been stroking his hair suddenly give him a weak slap.

"Geez Sakura-chan why are you always hitting me?" Naruto mumbled quietly as his brain began the process of clearing the fog between asleep and awake. Just a moment later his eyes shot open and his head shot up so fast it sent a sudden and sharp pain running through his neck and down his spine. "Oh my God my neck!"

"It's your own fault dummy. Falling asleep bent over like that. You better not have drooled on my bed." He heard an unmistakably amused and familiar voice say.

Naruto sat up straight immediately and opened his eyes. Sakura was lying on the bed, her hand tightly gripping his, with her eyes open and looking tired but very amusedly at him!

"Sakura-chan! You're awake!" Naruto stood up quickly, knocking the chair he'd been sitting on over onto its side on the floor.

"This is a hospital Naruto! You make enough noise to wake the dead!" Sakura complained but she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Sakura-chan…." Naruto eye's watered. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. Are you really alright?" He half leaned, half crawled onto the bed and gathered her into as gentle a hug as his adrenaline pumped body would allow. He was practically lying across her but he wasn't about to let the steel bars or anything else keep him from her right now.

She hugged him back just as tightly, ignoring the pain in her stomach. "Come on Naruto you're a man aren't you?" She chastised through the tears that ran down her face. "I'm so happy you're okay." They stayed like that for several minutes, each just content to feel that the other was alive. But soon enough, the pain from Sakura's wound started to get the better of her.

"Naruto, I'm sorry but you're going to have to move now. This position is kind of hurting."

"Umm that might be a problem Sakura-chan. I've been trying to. I think my back has seized up. I'm stuck!" Naruto's voice sounded pained.

"What?" Sakura yelled.

"Just what the hell is going on in here?" A stern voice boomed as the door was thrown open. Both Sakura and Naruto froze wide-eyed and red faced at the compromising position they had been caught in.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Naruto hastily yelled, suddenly wishing he hadn't bent over to hug Sakura with his back facing the door.

"Honestly you two are as bad as Sasuke and Mizuki!" Tsunade's voice rang stern but amused as a chorus of "Hey!" was yelled out behind her.

"Um I hate to break up your entertainment Shishou, but I'm kinda in a lot of pain here." Sakura wasn't kidding. Her face had gone considerably white in the last few minutes.

"And I'm stuck!" Naruto groaned.

"Okay, really?" Mizuki stalked over to where Naruto was very close to being smothered by Sakura's pillow. "I know this situation is anything but funny and I know I haven't known you that long but really Naruto…only you." Several other voices joined hers in laughter as she patted him on the back and stood up. "You got the other end Sasuke?"

"Why the hell do I get the ass end?" Sasuke complained loudly though he was having a hard time keeping his face straight as he took hold of Naruto's legs.

"You are his best friend are you not?" Mizuki asked as she took firm hold of Naruto's shoulders.

"We're not that damn close!" Sasuke yelled out as he suddenly lifted Naruto's legs, effectively moving his weight off of Sakura but causing a loud yell of pain from Naruto.

Mizuki just looked at Sasuke annoyed. "I never said I was ready to lift."

"Didn't you?" Sasuke asked indifferently. "You ready now?"

"I hope you two are enjoying this." Naruto snapped from his extremely vulnerable position.

Mizuki leaned down so she was face to face with the injured and highly embarrassed blonde. "Oh you have no idea." She smiled as she took hold of his shoulders again. She nodded at Sasuke and carefully, although less carefully than they probably should have been, they managed to get Naruto off of Sakura and seated onto a nearby chair.

Tsunade checked on Sakura, chastising her for letting herself end up like she was but beaming madly all the while to see her protégé awake and alright.

Kakashi glared at Naruto but said nothing. Knowing his student as well as he did he knew Naruto wouldn't listen to a thing he said anyway. He and Gaara approached Naruto and each took an arm. "You should be glad Naruto, you've given everyone a reason for a good laugh." He chuckled ruefully and they started back to Naruto's room.

Tsunade glanced over her shoulder as they reached the door. "I'll be in to check on you in a little while Naruto. If I don't see your body in that bed, and that includes NO Kage Bunshins, you're going to have one more injury to worry about. Clear?"

"Clear as mud Oba-chan!" Naruto said cheekily as Kakashi and Gaara led him away. Mizuki laughed and Sakura just shook her head.

"I will never truly understand him." She smiled.

"As long as you love him I think that's all that matters." Mizuki said as she looked at Sakura intently from her position of leaning against the bed.

Sakura looked at Mizuki just as intently and sighed. "I understand Mizuki-chan. I needed to hear it earlier though just the same. Thank you."

"Anytime." Mizuki said gingerly standing up. Her muscles were still sore and lifting Naruto, although a welcome form of entertainment and release of tension, had aggravated her pain more.

Shizune, having caught the tail end of the conversation in Tsunade's office, had come back to the hospital with the group and now smiled at Mizuki kindly. "I'm sorry Mizuki-chan. We were so caught up with Naruto-kun and Sakura's injuries, I totally forgot about you."

"Oh don't worry about me." Mizuki said, waving her hands emphatically. "A couple bumps and some sore muscles aren't going to do me any real damage. A good night's sleep is all I need. Really."

"That's something we could all use." Tsunade said. She looked at Sasuke. "You said we should have some time before he tries to attack again?"

"Yeah, resting for a while won't hinder the plan in any way." He looked at Mizuki who for all her joking and laughing was white as a sheet. "We won't have any chance anyway if we're all exhausted. I'm…really happy you're okay Sakura." His face was stoic but his eyes were soft as he looked at his friend. She smiled sleepily at him. He looked to Mizuki. "Come on Mizuki." He said turning towards the door. "Let's go home."

Sasuke and Mizuki left Sakura's room and Sasuke quietly closed the door behind him. He started down the hallway but realized that Mizuki was not following him. He turned to see her staring at the floor and looking very uneasy.

"Are you alright?"

"Um Sasuke…" Mizuki said quietly. "I know we need sleep but so much has happened in the last several hours…and I don't just mean with Itachi. I kinda feel like I should talk to…"

"I know." Sasuke interrupted suddenly feeling very nervous. "Before that though, there's actually something I need to apologize to you for." He thought back to how he had taken off when he saw Naruto kiss her. He failed her, and it almost got her killed.

"If it's about sneaking into my bed last night don't bother you're forgiven." Mizuki waved impatiently at him, suddenly feeling better. There was no better cure for nerves than teasing someone like him.

Sasuke opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. "How…how did you know about that?" He blurted out before realizing she had only been joking.

"What?" Mizuki's eyes went wide as saucers.

Inside Sakura's room, Tsunade and Shizune were applying some last minute needed healing to Sakura when all of a sudden they heard Mizuki's very angry voice in the hallway.

"YOU MEAN YOU ACTUALLY…I WAS ONLY JOKING…YOU REALLY? WHAT THE HELL?"

"Should I see what's going on Tsunade-sama?" Shizune looked to the door nervously.

"Don't even try." Tsunade shook her head as Sakura sighed. "I just don't want to know."


	17. Catching Up

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the completely whimsical and adorable characters we all know and love. :)

**Chapter 17**

**Catching Up**

"I really can't believe you did that." Mizuki chuckled. "What's more, I can't believe I slept through it!"

"Neither could I really. I thought for sure you would wake up any second and blast me." Sasuke rubbed the back of his head nervously at the memory.

"Then why didn't you just wake me up?"

"I know that's what I should have done…I just…couldn't seem to help myself." Sasuke stole a look at Mizuki whose face now shone as bright a crimson as his own.

It was now close to three in the morning and the two were walking from the hospital back to Sasuke's house for some much needed rest. Mizuki had continued to yell at Sasuke for his 'taking advantage of her vulnerable position' until Tsunade had finally come out and yelled at the both of them to scram before she knocked them both back to Sasuke's house. It had broken the tension somewhat and Mizuki had decided that settling things with Naruto could wait until everyone was rested up. They walked through the deserted streets slowly, savouring the quiet and calm; neither one afraid of another attack. They both knew that Itachi, although possibly still well hidden somewhere in the village, was in no condition to come after them right now.

Mizuki was very self conscious of how red she knew her face was so she turned away from Sasuke slightly, looking at the still full moon that was now slowly descending from the night sky. The sun would rise in just over three hours. She knew she needed sleep, her muscles had had quite enough for one night and they were practically screaming at her for rest. Her mind was still so abuzz with what she had remembered and how she felt however, that she wasn't sure she would be able to sleep at all. She sighed deeply and watched the moon move past her as she walked by it. She could see images of her former life flashing at her in its white surface. At Gaara's insistence, she had told the others everything she could remember about her life before meeting Itachi after they had talked about what they were going to do about Sasuke's relentless brother.

A young girl from the country of Grass who had loved her parents, her village and the moon. That was all the girl who was now called Mizuki was before meeting Uchiha Itachi. She thought it had been enough. She had lived in a small village near the border to the Earth Country whose inhabitants, even though the days of war were long over, still liked to pester the villages near them. Her parents had been killed in a random attack one day by several dissidents from the Earth Country just over a year before. She and a few others had barely managed to escape into one of many bamboo thickets that dotted their green country. When the attacks had been halted with the aid of some Hidden Leaf Shinobi, Mizuki had returned to her home, buried her parents and gone on with her life. But with her village nearly decimated and the natural solitude of being close to the border, (even though the attacks from the Earth Country had stopped, the border was still heavily guarded and travelers were extremely rare) loneliness weighed heavily on her. It made her easy prey for the ostensibly helpless Itachi. Upon recovering from his fever, he easily manipulated her weak heart and, using the Tsukuyomi to convince her that she was in love with him, used her to continue his devilish plan to regain his eyesight. Which apparently included trying to break her spirit and her heart; and destroying her mind. The only part of the situation that still remained a mystery was how Mizuki was so skilled in Taijutsu. Granted, there were still some blanks in her somewhat healed mind, but the memories of her past life that she did regain included nothing of learning any type of jutsu.

Thinking back upon it all now, Mizuki was annoyed but not surprised at how easily she had given in to Itachi. She knew she hadn't much choice in the matter; the Tsukuyomi was not easily fought against. But she hadn't realized until now just how lonely her life had been after her parents died. She never realized how much she missed just having someone to talk to, to share dreams and laughter with. She hadn't wanted to let it bother her; she was determined to be stronger than that and to do her parent's memory proud. And so the barrier had gone up around her heart. She would prove to the murderers of the Earth Country and to everyone else that she would not be beaten down. She would live her life, strong and in control, without anybody's help.

Mizuki looked away from the bright moon and stole a glance at Sasuke who was looking ahead and seemed to be thinking rather hard himself. A small smile crept its way onto her face without her realizing it. She had believed she hated him and his harsh and apathetic attitude. She thought that every time he snapped at her or groaned in annoyance, he was assuming her to be weak, causing her to throw her tough barrier up even harder. It had not occurred to her in her wildest dreams that not only had he seen past her hardened exterior, his attitude towards her was because he didn't know any other way to show her just how foolish she was being. After all, she knew now what Itachi had done to cause Sasuke so much pain and knew that Sasuke was just about as screwed up as she was. He truly did care about her and he just wanted to help her. And somewhere during the endless days of fighting and hurt feelings, emotions had developed that went so far beyond simple friendship that the very notion they had begun this adventure disliking each other so much was laughable. So much had happened in the last several hours, she supposed it hadn't really hit her yet just what the seemingly apathetic shinobi was to her. Not even twelve hours ago they were fighting and she couldn't stand to be around him. Now it was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms. She had never expected to feel so good with his arms wrapped around her. It had felt just like…

"Hey Sasuke…"

"Mmmm."

"Do you remember back in the Sand Village when Itachi attacked us?"

"Yeah."

"After Itachi rendered me unconscious, well…I remember waking up for a minute and someone was carrying me." Mizuki trailed off, trying to remember the sensation and the voice she had recognized.

"Did you think it was Naruto?" Sasuke was looking at her now as they walked and his steps started to slow down. After everything that had happened and all that he had confessed (sort of) he still couldn't help but feel jealous of his best friend. Naruto and Mizuki had grown so close in such a short space of time. But Sasuke wasn't Naruto. He couldn't be cheerful, optimistic and comforting like Naruto. In all truth, he couldn't blame Mizuki for feeling about Naruto the way she did. Could he ever hope to really be with her like he wanted so badly?

"Wasn't it?" Mizuki slowed down to keep pace with Sasuke and watched his face carefully. She had seen his expression change when he mentioned Naruto. She was sure in her heart of how Sasuke felt about her. She was even surer of her feelings for him. She wanted desperately to show him everything was that in her heart and erase in his mind what had happened between her and Naruto. If only she could get those horrible images in her mind to go away.

"It was…at first." Sasuke said looking ahead again. "He ran to where Sakura had you out of the way and picked you up. We left Kakashi to deal with Gaara and made for the hospital. We hadn't gone very far when Sakura suddenly grabbed her side and hit the ground. Naruto and I stopped and ran to her. She wasn't hurt badly, just a nasty bruise to her ribs but she couldn't run anymore. Naruto immediately gave you to me and picked Sakura up and we took off again."

"I'll be Sakura-san just loved that." Mizuki smiled ruefully.

"It wasn't a quiet trip back to the hospital after that it's true." Sasuke smirked at the memory.

"Then when I came to for a moment, the voice I heard, the one who was holding on to me so tightly…"

"It was me."

They walked on for several steps in silence. Mizuki had never imagined that Sasuke could be so kind to her. She had convinced herself that it was Naruto in whose arms she felt so safe. But knowing now that it was Sasuke in the Sand Village and in her vision…

"Mizuki…" Sasuke suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked down.

Mizuki stopped just a few feet ahead of him and looked back. "What's wrong?"

"I…before at the hospital, before my little uh…slip, I was trying to apologize for something…"

"It's alright Sasuke." Mizuki said covering the distance between them and smiling up at him reassuringly. She tried her best to ignore the images that threw themselves to the front of her mind as she looked into his obviously pain filled eyes. Whatever he was trying to apologize for, it was going to be tough for him to do. "It can wait until tomorrow can't it? When you've rested and can think a little more clearly."

"No!" He snapped. "I have to do this now or I…" He trailed off and looked away. "What happened tonight…it's my fault."

"Huh?" Mizuki asked and rolled her eyes slightly. "Okay I know you've got some weird guilt transference thing happening where whatever Itachi does you feel responsible for but how could what happened tonight possibly be your fault?"

"Because I wasn't there to protect you!" Sasuke looked at her, his eyes blazing. "When you and Naruto were sitting in the field, when he…I had already decided that I felt…I couldn't watch. I took off when I should have been looking after you and I wasn't there when you remembered and ran off and I couldn't stop Itachi getting his hands on you. Itachi has known all along just how this would play out because he knows my weaknesses. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if Gaara hadn't shown up when he did…" Sasuke's fists were clenched tightly and Mizuki could hear the self-loathing in his voice.

The smile melted off Mizuki's face. She leaned her forehead against Sasuke's chest and played idly with the edges of his shirt. "Please don't worry about it Sasuke. I don't blame you for any of that. The truth is, I think I had already decided how I felt too, I just…I was so confused about what I wanted. And I thought you really hated me, I never thought…it must have been so hard for you. I'm sorry that I hurt you. "

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her and muttered, "Don't be such an idiot."

Mizuki could have been angry but heard his voice crack and smiled. "I won't if you won't." She looked up at his slightly annoyed expression and stuck her tongue out at him. His eyes went wide for a moment but he shook his head and smiled. He released her and they continued walking towards his house.

As Mizuki walked, she realized that, if only slightly, her heart and mind were feeling a little lighter. "Somehow, things are finally starting to make sense." She spoke aloud without realizing it.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh nothing." Mizuki waved dramatically at him. "I was just thinking that I don't feel quite as confused as I did before."

"That's a switch." Sasuke smirked. "Glad I could help."

"Jerk." Mizuki mumbled with a smile.

"Brat." Sasuke said back simply, doing a bad job of trying to hide his own smile.

They walked in companiable silence until they reached Sasuke's house. He opened the front door and stood back to allow Mizuki to enter first. Her legs would barely carry her up the front steps she was so tired so it should have come as no surprise when her toe hit the last step and she went sprawling forward, arms waving frantically in front of her. She grit her teeth tight in anticipation of the impact but instead of hard wood, two hands gripped her shoulders, stopping her mid-fall. She took a breath in surprise and then before she could breathe again, the arms connected to those hands scooped her up bridal style. She opened her eyes and looked in shock at Sasuke's tired but amused eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She asked flatly.

"You're welcome." Sasuke replied dryly. "Geez, klutzy much? That's the third time…"

"Don't even say it Sasuke I am warning you." She glared at him.

"It's really hard to feel threatened by someone I'm carrying who has all the grace of a one-legged drunken frog." Sasuke said as he stepped over the threshold and kicked the door closed behind him.

"Oh that is it put me down now." Mizuki's eyes flashed in anger.

"What so you can trip and fall again? What if you knock into a table or chair?"

"Sasuke…" Mizuki eyes began to soften.

"Exactly. It's not like I have klutz insurance you know." He grinned as her eyes went hard again. It could have been because he was just so tired or it could have been that the stress of the night was finally catching up to him. Whatever the reason, Sasuke knew he was acting utterly unlike himself. If he were to actually think back to what kind of person he had been before his entire clan had been massacred and he'd been set unwillingly to his dark path, he wouldn't have had cause to worry about anything other than losing his well maintained reputation for being cool and standoffish. As it was, at this moment, the feelings he had finally given in to were just too strong and he was just too damn tired to worry about it. He was also too busy keeping his grip on Mizuki who had begun verbally and physically thrashing him in an attempt to make him let her go.

Mizuki was so busy trying to loosen Sasuke's grip that she didn't pay any attention to where he was headed. All of a sudden, without a word of warning, he let go. She gasped at suddenly being airborne but let the air out in a 'woof!' as she hit something soft. She opened her eyes as she bounced and looked down. Sasuke had carried her to her bedroom and dropped her unceremoniously on the bed. She reached out to stop herself from bouncing up and down and glared dangerously at Sasuke.

"You are freakishly strong." She spat out.

He leaned down and cupped her chin in his hand. He turned her face towards his and leaned in until they were barely a few inches apart. "You should be glad for it. Sleep well Mizuki." And with that, he turned around and left without another word, shutting the door behind him.

Mizuki sat where he had dropped her for a few seconds with her mouth agape. Then her eyes narrowed. "What? No goodnight kiss?" She yelled and smirked as she quite clearly heard him drop something in the next room. She changed and got into bed. As full as her mind was with the night's adventures Mizuki's eyes had no problem closing and despite the hard day she knew was coming, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

XXX

"Ohayou Mizuki-chan." Naruto greeted Mizuki a little less than exuberantly the next day.

"Ohayou Naruto-san. Can I come in?" Mizuki could feel the temperature suddenly drop twenty degrees as she entered Naruto's hospital room. She restlessly pulled at the pockets of her purple hoodie. The laughter and foolishness of several hours previous had been needed but now that everyone had a chance to get some rest, the full impact of the night's events were thrown into the foreground. Mizuki hadn't forgotten that the last time she had spoken to Naruto, she had yelled angrily at him.

Naruto nodded and she stepped over the threshold only to see Konohamaru seated in a chair beside Naruto's bed and Gaara standing beside him. Upon explanation from Shikamaru, Konohamaru had been brought to the hospital to be released from Itachi's influence and had been questioned as to what he remembered. He had been able to confirm his helping Itachi into the village and hiding him in the burnt out house. Through strange and unknown jutsu, Itachi had been able to see out of Konohamaru's eyes as he roamed freely about the village. Which justified why Mizuki had felt so uneasy whenever he was within a certain distance of her. She looked at Konohamaru but he turned away with downcast eyes.

"How are you feeling this morning Mizuki?" Gaara asked when he saw her.

"I'm much better now thanks Gaara." Mizuki smiled brightly at him but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked to Konohamaru sympathetically. She understood how he felt completely. She walked over to where he sat still refusing to look at her and knelt down in front of him. "Konohamaru-kun, it's alright. If there's anyone who knows what you've been through you know it's me."

"I know but it's still my fault ne-chan was almost…" Konohamaru couldn't finish.

Mizuki stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. "Alright I've had just about enough of this." Naruto, Konohamaru and even Gaara looked at her shocked but she continued in a heavy voice. "It seems to me that ever since this whole mess started, everyone has been blaming everyone else except the one who's really at fault. And frankly, I'm starting to get really tired of being expected to forgive everyone for something that's not their fault!" She grabbed Konohamaru by his collar and dragged him to his feet. "So when I say it's alright that means it's bloody alright got it?" She growled to his shocked face.

"H..hai!" Konohamaru gasped in shock but he could see the humour in Mizuki's eyes and he smiled sheepishly at her. Mizuki gently let go of his collar and set him down on the chair again.

"I'm glad we understand each other." She smiled at the wide-eyed ninja but the smile vanished in an instant as she looked at Naruto. "Um…I don't mean to spoil this warm moment of understanding but I really need to…could you guys maybe give us a few minutes?" She looked at Gaara and Konohamaru who nodded in understanding.

"Of course Mizuki. Come Konohamaru, let's get some lunch. We'll bring back something for you two as well." Gaara and Konohamaru left, shutting the door quietly behind them.

Mizuki waited until the door was closed tightly until she turned back to Naruto who was sitting against his pillows looking glum. His right arm was bandaged heavily due to the strain of using the Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken. Most of his other wounds from transforming into the Kyuubi had, for the most part, healed over. Mizuki stood for a moment, unsure of how to begin when Naruto pointed to the chair Konohamaru had recently vacated.

"You may as well sit down Mizuki-chan." He said slowly.

Mizuki nodded and sat down. She opened her mouth to speak but all the practiced words left her. She twiddled her thumbs nervously.

"Mizuki-chan…I'm so sorry." Mizuki's head went up like a shot at Naruto's words.

"Wha…Naruto-san what do you mean? You have nothing to be sorry about. This is my entire fault. If I hadn't been so damn stubborn none of this would have happened. I…I'm sure someone told you that my memory, for the most part, has returned."

Naruto nodded. "Kakashi-sensei told me that's what happened when I…kissed you." His face turned red at the memory. "That it triggered your memories to come back and…well he wouldn't say what you saw, he said he didn't have the right to tell me, but he said it wasn't pretty and that I shouldn't be angry with you for how you acted."

"I don't blame you if you are angry. Lord knows Sasuke was and he had pretty much figured it out before I said anything. I just…" Mizuki sighed deeply and hesitantly told Naruto what she had remembered. Everything about where she was from, to what Itachi had done to her and made her see, and ending with why she had yelled at him and sent him flying across the field.

Naruto listened with a passive face until she got to the part about the Genjutsu. His eyes widened as she told him the horrors she had seen.

"You…have got to be kidding me!" Naruto said through gritted teeth. "How could he…how the hell could you think I would blame you for any of this after hearing that?"

"Because that has nothing to do with what happened between us Naruto-san and you know it." Mizuki said simply. "I know you know what it feels like to be lonely." At Naruto's look, "Gaara told me all about what happened to you last night and what it means to be a Jinchuuriki. I never realized just how lonely I was, and not just because I couldn't remember who I was. When you began paying attention to me, it made me feel good and I wanted more of that. So I led you on…hell I led myself on. Believing you could fill the hole that was bothering me so much." She sighed and looked to her hands. "But I was wrong. Ever since I met you and Sakura-san and Sasuke, I've done nothing but hurt you all. I don't deserve your protection or your friendship." Mizuki stood up and walked to the other end of the room, desperate for Naruto not to see her cry.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of having to forgive people for things that aren't their fault." Naruto's voice said semi-amused as he got up from his bed and came to stand right behind her. "Why do you think you're the only one to blame here? I asked you out first remember? I kissed you. You said you had just used me as an escape from your loneliness well the truth is Mizuki-chan that I did the exact same thing." Naruto had started out this confession with a hard voice, determined to make her understand she was not to blame but once the words had left his lips, he felt his stomach drop again. He'd been such a fool.

"I used you to try and forget about Sakura-chan. Her infatuation with Sasuke had been getting on my nerves for a long time and when I met you, you seemed so frightened and alone, and I swore I would protect you. I confused my feelings of wanting to watch over you with my feelings for Sakura-chan and mixed everything up. Sakura-chan, Sasuke and I have been fighting this stupid triangle for years and I dragged you into it. I acted like a complete idiot." He shook his head feeling frustrated.

"No, no Naruto-san I was the one who acted like an idiot. If I had just been a little stronger and trusted you guys in the first place none of this would have happened." Mizuki cut in.

"Can we just say you're both idiots and call it a day? I'm getting really hungry waiting for you two to figure yourselves out." An annoyed voice called from the door.

"What the hell do you want? I thought you were figuring your own stuff out with Sakura-san." Mizuki said with a raised eyebrow as Sasuke came into the room.

"We got that straightened out a while ago. It's you two who just won't let it go." He replied smugly back as Naruto and Mizuki glared at him. He had entered Sakura's room with much the same reception as Naruto had given Mizuki but there had been no one else there so they had been able to talk freely. Naruto and Mizuki hadn't known each other all that long and so things had felt awkward. Sasuke and Sakura didn't have that problem.

"Sakura, we need to talk." He began as he sat down beside her bed. She was still hooked up to innumerable IV's and was still quite pale but the shine had returned to her eyes and Sasuke felt relieved despite the awkward conversation he knew they had coming.

"Yeah we really do." Sakura said quietly. They sat in silence for several minutes before Sakura shook her head and smiled. "We really screwed this up didn't we?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Who are you kidding? We've been screwing it up for years. It's just amazing to me that it took that stubborn, obnoxious amnesiac falling in the middle of this mess to finally force us to straighten things out."

Sakura smiled. "You really do love her don't you?"

Sasuke felt his face turn several shades of crimson. But he sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately. What about you? You really do love that dobe don't you?"

Sakura nodded, her face turning red as well but the smile never leaving her face. "Yeah I do. Don't ask me why cuz I will never understand it." She shrugged.

"I know why. And I'm really happy for you Sakura." Sasuke took Sakura's hand in his as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. She looked at him surprised at this sign of affection but he stood up and walked towards the door. "Good I'm glad that's settled. Get some rest; I've got work to do. I'll catch you later."

"Is this what Mizuki-chan meant?" Sakura thought to herself before she yelled out, "Wait Sasuke-kun! What's happening with Itachi?"

"There's not much you can do about it at the moment so you don't need to know. But we have a plan. I'll let you know how it turns out okay?" And he left with a smile, ignoring Sakura's cursing behind him.

XXX

"Can you guys just hug or something so we can go? I'm hungry. I never did get breakfast this morning." Sasuke snapped again from the doorway.

"Oh suck it up princess, neither did I." Mizuki snapped back at him, causing Naruto to burst out laughing.

"You two really suit each other don't you?" He laughed, causing dangerous glares from Mizuki and Sasuke.

Mizuki smiled. "Oh? Is that how it is? I guess he doesn't want to hear about your plan to capture Itachi huh?" She walked towards Sasuke and winked at him.

He smiled and said, "Guess not. We'll go get him ourselves shall we?" He put his arm around her shoulders to lead her out of the room but barely made it two steps when Naruto practically leapt at them.

"What plan?"

XXX

Gaara and Konohamaru were eating breakfast in the hospital cafeteria with Ino and Shikamaru who had come to check on their friends but had been diverted by Gaara until the others could straighten everything out.

Sasuke and Mizuki entered the cafeteria with Naruto right behind them, still trying to get them to tell him what their mysterious plan was all about. Ino stood when she heard them come in.

"Thank goodness you guys are alright!" She smiled relieved. "What about Sakura?"

"I just came from there, she's fine Ino. Go on up." Sasuke waved towards the doorway. Ino excused herself and left.

"I'm surprised you haven't been in to see Sakura-san this morning Naruto." Gaara said as Naruto sat down beside him.

"Who says I haven't?" Naruto said back. "Sakura-chan and I didn't get to sleep in like you guys did. Nurses coming in at ungodly hours poking and prodding at you, I can't wait to get sprung from here." He grimaced as one of the cafeteria staff brought the new arrival's lunch. "If the food doesn't kill me first." He poked at what was proclaimed to be scrambled eggs but what looked suspiciously more like bright yellow gravel.

"I agree with you there dobe." Sasuke poked at his own dangerous looking meal.

"So you got to talk to Sakura-san this morning?" Mizuki asked as she took a mouthful of her eggs. Naruto and Sasuke peered at her curiously. "Oh for crying out loud you're both being foolish! The food is fine! Stop acting like a couple of spoiled brats and eat your breakfast…er…lunch! Whatever!" She shoved a couple of plastic forks at them as Gaara and Konohamaru smirked at her. Shikamaru mumbled something about bothersome women but snickered just the same.

"Yeah we talked for a while before she had to get some more rest." Naruto smiled wistfully at the memory. "We…um…"

"So you're together now right?" Mizuki asked plainly, ignoring the sudden choking fits that went around the table. Now that she and Naruto had worked things out, she realized she was looking at him through the eyes of almost a sister. And now that she knew how he and Sakura truly felt about each other, she was determined to make up for her part in the misunderstanding by making sure they got together.

Naruto's face went more shades of red than exists in the colour spectrum. "Well…I guess…I don't know…maybe…"

"You cannot tell me we went through all that crap and you're not even together!" Mizuki smacked the table and glared at Naruto.

"What about you and Sasuke, Mizuki, are you two together now?" Shikamaru asked as he took a gulp of milk. He was lucky that Sasuke and Mizuki were sitting across the table from him although if looks could kill he would have died anyway. Eight times.

"Touché." Mizuki said bitterly. "Gaara." She said turning to the quiet redhead for a change of topic. "Have you let Temari-chan know that you're here? I'm sure you suddenly disappearing last night caused quite an uproar."

"A letter has been dispatched to the Sand Village explaining the situation and leaving Temari in charge of things until my return." Gaara said simply. "Temari knew of the summoning jutsu in the sand I gave you so she knew what to expect when I disappeared. I'm sure she will be relieved to know you're alright."

"That was one awesome jutsu Gaara." Naruto said brightly. "Kakashi-sensei told me what you did. You arrived just in time."

"I gave my word to Mizuki that I would protect her. You know how the rest goes Naruto." Gaara said quietly.

"You bet I do." Naruto nodded seriously. He smiled at Mizuki. "I know what happened last night was intense Mizuki-chan but you shouldn't be worried anymore. You've got a lot of people here determined to protect you!"

Mizuki smiled back but her heart felt uneasy. "How did this happen?" She thought as Naruto suddenly started berating Sasuke with questions about his plan. "In just a few days I've gone from being terrified of them, to caring this much for them. For crying out loud I'm in love with one of them! And there's no doubt at all that they care about me. When did everything change?" She smiled as Sasuke yelled at Naruto to sit down and shut up, all would be explained at the meeting later with Tsunade. Konohamaru threw his roll at Naruto's head when he wouldn't stop and even Shikamaru got into it when Naruto accidentally knocked over his glass with his oversized right arm. Gaara just sat silent through the melee and ate his lunch. Before Mizuki even realized it, the room started feeling very claustrophobic.

She stood up quickly, causing the others to stop their fighting in its tracks. "I'll be right back okay guys? I just need some fresh air."

"Are you alright Mizuki?" Sasuke looked at her quizzically as he stood up also. "I'll come with you."

"No, no that's alright." Mizuki forced a thousand kilowatt smile. "You stay and finish your breakfast. I won't be long." And she took off out of the large cafeteria doors before anyone could react.

The five friends sat silent for a minute. Sasuke pushed his chair back but Gaara stood up. "I will check on her. She may be having unpleasant visions again." And before Sasuke could say anything, Gaara went after Mizuki.

Sasuke sat back down in his chair heavily. Shikamaru and Konohamaru wisely continued to eat and didn't say anything. Naruto looked from the door to Sasuke and back, "I'm sure that's all it is." He said quietly.

"Even if that's all it is, it's enough." He said bitterly. "She can't be around me without seeing me hurting her and it's driving her mad. How are we ever supposed to be together?"

A/N: I know this should have been called 'Day of Filler 2'. We needed some time to get everyone up to speed (and take a small comedic break) before taking a turn back towards the dark side. So question obviously answered as to who ends up with who...or is it? Can Mizuki learn to deal with the horrors Itachi unleashed on her? Can she ever be with Sasuke without feeling pain at every turn? For those who are anxious for some hardcore fluff ;) I promise there's more to come. Thanks to those who have reviewed so far and thanks so much for reading! Happy St. Paddy's day and have a great week!


	18. The Calm Before The Storm

Disclaimer: For the 18th time I do not own Naruto or any of the characters therein, except for my original creation Mizuki (not like that's her real name) :)

**Chapter 18**

**The Calm Before The Storm**

Gaara found Mizuki sitting on a bench around the corner from the entrance to the hospital. She was not crying, as he almost expected, but instead was staring seemingly at nothing ahead of her and tapping her fingers restlessly against her legs with an intense frown on her face. Almost as though she were impatiently waiting for something.

Gaara did not ask for permission but sat down next to her. She shoved a little to the right to make room for him but said nothing. She just continued to stare straight ahead and her fingers were always tapping. Gaara waited for a few minutes but she still did not acknowledge him so he opened his mouth to speak but she surprised him by beating him to it.

"It's not what you think Gaara."

"Oh? And with your memories did your psychic abilities also return?"

Mizuki did look at him then. He saw mostly anger in her eyes but she could not hide a trace of amusement. "Okay, you're not allowed to talk to Sasuke anymore. You're starting to sound like him and that's just frightening the hell out of me."

"What else is frightening you Mizuki?" Gaara asked quietly. Mizuki did not answer but the drumming of her fingers was suddenly a lot faster and she looked away. Gaara was about to ask her again when she suddenly spoke.

"What the hell am I doing here?" She snapped more to the ground than anything. Gaara did not know how to respond but she didn't give him time to worry about it.

"Two weeks ago I had no idea they existed. One week ago I was trying desperately to survive and hide the near constant terror I felt at being around them. Yesterday I kissed one of them and today I'm in love with the other and having lunch with both of them like it's something perfectly normal that's been happening for years!" She threw her arms up in the air in an exaggerated shrug as if to emphasize how ridiculous the idea was. "What the hell am I doing here Gaara?" Her eyes read confusion and frustration when she finally turned them to him. "How did it go from me being just a lure for Itachi that needed protection to me being their…whatever the hell I am to them now?"

"I don't think that's all you ever were." Gaara said before she could start rambling again. "Sasuke may have made it seem like that at first but I think you know deep down that you were never merely a lure or a burden on anyone. Also…" The smallest grin appeared on his face. "You aren't in love with Sasuke 'today' I know it's been going on longer than that."

Mizuki blushed but her tone was serious. "Yeah I know you're right." She seemed to consider it for a moment but shook her head. "It feels like it's all happening too fast. Like it's not real. Believe it or not, part of me wants to think that this is another Genjutsu that Itachi has let loose on my mind; that you never really did appear to save me in the burnt house last night and Itachi had his way with me. I know what I feel in my heart and I want to trust it but…" She seemed at a loss for words.

"I agree that a lot has happened to you in the last couple of weeks; things have changed extremely quickly for everyone. However, even though you say it is not what I think, I do believe it's affecting you. And that how you feel right now has a lot do with the war I know is going on between your mind and your heart." Gaara put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her semi-sternly, daring her to deny it again. She didn't even try.

"Alright fine, you got me." She sighed again and suddenly looked extremely tired, as though even thinking about it sapped the energy from her. "I wanted to get my memories back so badly. But what price have I paid? I can't get it out of my head. The looks on their faces, the red rain and that horrible laughter follows me wherever I go now. I can't look at any of them without seeing it." She paused and a pained look crossed her features. "I can't look him in the eye without my heart feeling like it's clamped in a vice. I don't know what to do Gaara. They're in there now talking happily and laughing like I should be; like I want to be. But I can't. What he's done, I can never undo." A few tears fell down Mizuki's cheeks as she thought about the life that was right in front of her, holding it's arms out to her; and yet forever out of her reach. "I wish I'd never remembered any of it." She buried her face in her hands and let a few tears fall. A few minutes later, when she felt arms gently close around her she didn't resist. She felt a chin on her head and a hand in her hair. She breathed in deeply and her eyes shot open in surprise but she sighed and, if possible, leaned into Sasuke even more.

"How did you do that?" She mumbled semi-annoyed.

"I couldn't call myself a shinobi if you'd actually heard me." Sasuke replied with a mirthless smirk. He sighed deeply as she snaked her arms around his waist. He'd heard the whole conversation and felt his heart break with every word she spoke. He'd spent the night before awake, in Mizuki's room again but this time sitting in a chair beside her bed where he watched her sleep for hours. He couldn't explain why he did it when his own body was aching for sleep. It was like a switch had been flipped in his head and now he couldn't get enough of her. He watched her expression change while she dreamed and listened to the rhythmic sound of her breathing and for the first time he truly searched his heart and actually found himself listening to it. He'd spent so much time trying to destroy his emotions, to turn his heart from red to black; he never believed he would ever be able to love someone like he loved her. But the feelings that had awakened within him were so strong it was all he could do not to wake her and take her into his arms right there, never to let her go. He gritted his teeth now as he thought of the despair in her voice. They'd both come so far. He'd never allowed himself to feel this much for any one person, he wasn't going to let her give up so easily.

"Whatever damage he's done, I'll undo it." He whispered gravely into her ear. "I'll save you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Mizuki said a little too bitterly, pulling back from his embrace. "Why should you risk everything for me anyway? Two weeks ago you didn't even know…" She was silenced as Sasuke pulled her to him and crushed his lips against hers.

The kiss was intense if not a little angry. It pulsed with a raw passion Mizuki had never felt before. Sasuke was searching for something; anything worth fighting for and Mizuki felt the dark clouds of doubt that had been so persistent blown away as she surrendered to his demands and gave him what he was looking for. Her eyes fluttered shut and at once she could hear nothing but her own pounding heartbeat. Her other senses though were so heightened she thought she might explode. Her skin where he touched her felt like it was on fire. His hands moved to her back and pulled her even closer to him. She could feel the calluses on his hands through the thin fabric of her hoodie and it sent chills of pleasure up her spine. She thought for a moment again how utterly different Sasuke and Naruto were from each other. Naruto's kiss had been gentle and full of affection but unsure, masking a heart in pain. Sasuke's kiss was forceful and full of desire. She could still feel the insecurity in his heart but her body was responding to his kiss like it never had with Naruto and she all of a sudden felt as though everything that had happened to her up until now had been leading up to this moment. She suddenly thought about what it would have felt like if she'd been awake that night. If she had been able to feel his arms around her, his heartbeat so close to her own. She grabbed the front of his shirt, urging him even closer. A growl emanated from his throat and he grabbed her hands from his shirt, and pulled them up around his neck, removing the last barrier between them.

"God I'm such a drama queen." Mizuki thought to herself as she ran her fingers through his hair. "We love each other and that's enough. Screw that bastard Itachi. I'm never going to doubt Sasuke again."

Emotions that he would never be able to voice poured between them. Everything that he felt was now being mirrored back at him and if possible, it intensified the sensation even more. The fact that Sasuke had accepted and embraced his feelings for this girl was a miracle in itself. It would be a miracle again if they were both to survive the coming battle. For once however, he didn't let those doubts and uncertainties into his heart. He was in love with the girl in his arms and nothing was going to ruin this perfect moment.

Unfortunately, Naruto was far from nothing.

"Hey guys I have a problem!" Naruto's voice came loudly around the corner followed quickly by the rest of him.

Sasuke and Mizuki immediately parted, red faced and out of breath. Mizuki pressed her face into Sasuke's chest and Sasuke sighed. "It wouldn't by any chance be bad timing would it?" He said irritably and he could feel Mizuki laugh quietly.

"No, no much worse than…wait what're you two doing?" Naruto's face took on redness to match both of his friends. "OH! Uh…sorry guys." He laughed nervously.

Mizuki looked up to her blonde friend. "It's alright Naruto-san. What's wrong?"

Naruto blinked and his face became serious once more. "I just finished talking to Tsunade-no-ba-chan. She said that my injuries from using the Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken aren't healing as fast as last time. She said I can't fight!"

Sasuke stood up immediately and faced his friend. "You haven't lost the ability to manipulate chakra have you?" He sounded alarmed and Mizuki stood up in reaction.

"Not this time." Tsunade's harsh voice came from the corner Naruto had just run from. "But the damaged to his arm is worse than the last time. I've been forced to place restrictions on his use of chakra for several days. He will not be able to help, Sasuke." She said bitterly. She had warned Naruto so many times not to use that jutsu. This time he had been lucky but she knew Naruto's good luck was Sasuke's bad luck. His plan was shot.

Mizuki took Sasuke's arm. "I guess that means I'll just have to…"

"NO!" Came a chorus from the other three. Naruto spoke up first. "Gaara told me about Sasuke's plan just now. Just because I can't use a Kage Bunshin with a Henge to pose as you doesn't mean you're going to go as yourself! It's way too dangerous!"

"Well if you've a better idea I'm listening." Mizuki crossed her arms and looked at the others annoyed.

"It's out of the question." Sasuke said looking intently at Mizuki and matching her annoyed look with one of his own. "I'll think of something else but you will not even bring that up again."

"You said it yourself Sasuke, we can't wait around for Itachi to attack us again. This time we have to bring it to him and this is the best, not to mention probably only way to do it! I'm the one he wants and you know some random Henge-No-Jutsu won't fool his eyes. Naruto's expertise with the Kage-Bunshin-No-Jutsu makes him the only one with the ability to create a clone that has the possibility of fooling Itachi. If he can't do it then the only alternative is to have me do it myself!"

"Might I remind you, you have no chakra and no real training as a shinobi? You may have some skill at Taijutsu but that will not be enough to protect you facing him alone." Tsunade said.

"And who said I'd be going alone?" Mizuki said slyly as a wicked glint suddenly appeared in her eyes. "Where's Gaara?"

XXX

"And that's my idea." Mizuki sighed and reached for a glass of water. After finding Gaara, Shikamaru, Neji and Kakashi, all of them (including Naruto who would not be left out despite his being left out) had gone to Tsunade's office to talk about the changes to Sasuke's plan. Almost two hours of arguing and scheming later, Mizuki had managed to put forth her idea. There had been much grumbling, especially from Sasuke and Gaara but Tsunade had finally given her okay to the plan.

"I don't like this." Sasuke grumbled once more as the meeting was adjourned and everyone went their separate ways until the following morning when the plan would commence.

"That's why I didn't ask you if you did." Mizuki said simply as she stood up from her chair and stretched.

Gaara stood up also. "It will take me some time to make preparations. But I should be ready by this evening."

"That's perfect Gaara. We'll all meet for dinner when you're ready." Mizuki said with a smile. Gaara nodded and left. Mizuki smoothed the wrinkles out of her pants and looked at Sasuke expectantly. "You coming?"

"Since when did you suddenly become the leader of this operation?" Sasuke said irritably as he stood up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mizuki put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Despite my minor tweaks, this is still your plan Sasuke. No need to be jealous now."

Sasuke pulled her into his arms. "You idiot. There's no need to get so excited about this. I don't want you anywhere near him."

"You know, nice as it is being in your arms, if you keep calling me an idiot every time you do it, I'm not going to let you touch me again." Mizuki said as she hugged him back just as tightly.

"Pfft! Try and stop me you chakra-less wimp." He smiled to himself knowing what her reaction would be. He wasn't disappointed when she pulled back her arm and punched him hard in the shoulder. He couldn't believe now what a hard time he'd had trying to read her two weeks ago. It was as though he was looking at her through new eyes.

"Have you forgotten so easily how good I am at Taijutsu?" She glared at him mock threateningly. "Perhaps you need a reminder?"

Sasuke put his arm around her shoulder and steered her towards the door. "Much as I hate to admit it, Itachi was right about one thing. You are feisty."

"You love it."

"You have no idea."

XXX

Naruto had left Tsunade's office and headed back to the hospital. Instead of going to his own room though like he'd been told, he went straight to Sakura's room. He knocked and heard her still too small voice tell him to come in. He walked in and heaved a giant sigh of relief.

Sakura glared at him. "What was that for? Did you think you'd come back here only to find me dead or something?"

"Not funny Sakura-chan. Not even close to funny." Naruto grumbled as he took the chair beside her bed. "I'm just relieved that no one else is here."

"Tsunade-sama told me about your arm." Sakura looked to Naruto's oversized bandage with a small scowl.

"Don't bother Sakura-chan." Naruto said immediately. "I would have done the same again and if it means saving your life I'll do it again and again until I can't use chakra anymore and that's all there is to it!"

Sakura sighed and gingerly sat up. She took Naruto's good hand in her own. "Why do you put me in these situations Naruto?"

"What situations?" Naruto looked puzzled.

"I can't decide whether I want to hit you for being so stubborn or kiss you for being so sweet." She shook her head with a rueful smile.

"I'd take either at this point, as long as I knew you were okay." Naruto squeezed her hand and smiled as her face turned ten shades of red.

"I'm fine. You know I'm fine."

"You took a sword through the gut! You're no where near fine!" Naruto said a little more loudly than he intended. He couldn't help but shudder at the memory. He knew he would never be able to forget the sight of her laying limp across his legs, an impossibly large pool of blood under her with more oozing lazily from the wound that had been meant for him.

"But I will be." Sakura knew the blonde in front of her better than he would ever believe she did. She didn't spend all those years watching over him when he wasn't looking not to learn anything about how he ticked. She knew that despite Itachi practically laughing off all of their best efforts, Naruto was blaming only himself. Not only for failing to protect her, but also for failing to protect Mizuki.

"And so will Mizuki-chan." Naruto looked at Sakura as though he was shocked that she could somehow read his mind but his eyes grew distant and he looked at the floor.

Sakura could have felt jealous of Mizuki at that moment. She had been jealous of their new friend for a while now, ever since she first noticed Naruto paying attention to her. Of course she had never been willing to admit it to anyone, least of all herself. And even though things had ultimately worked out between the four of them, when Sasuke had blurted out that Naruto had kissed Mizuki (in his own highly indelicate way) Sakura had found herself ready to give up. She knew she was too late and she couldn't deny to herself that her heart broke just to look at him. When she saw Itachi appear behind Naruto with the chakra sword, she didn't even think about moving. Her feet moved on their own, driven by her heart's desire to see Naruto alive and happy, with or without her. It was that moment when she felt the sword pierce her skin, that she realized just how much in love she was with her knuckleheaded friend; her best friend. When she had awoken and Tsunade had told her that Naruto would be okay, she had felt in all honesty that her wounds were too serious for even Tsunade to heal. But she was okay with that. As long as he was alive, she felt that could let go with a smile. At least, until Mizuki had knelt down beside her.

XXX

"Sakura-san." Mizuki leaned over and took Sakura's hand. "Can you hear me?"

"Mizuki-chan." Sakura's vision had become blurry and clouded from the glow as Tsunade desperately tried to heal her broken body, but she could see the anger in Mizuki's features and hear the harsh tone of her voice. "What…"

"Don't even think about giving up now Sakura do you hear me?" Mizuki whispered the words but somehow that just made it worse. Sakura scowled. How dare Mizuki demand that she fight! She'd fought for so long, endured every blow and wound, all for him. And now he was lost to her. Why the hell should she continue to fight now? Despite her body desperately wanting to give in to the encroaching darkness, Sakura forced her own low tone.

"Don't talk about things that you know nothing about. It's too late now. He's safe and that's all that matters."

"Don't you dare play the self-sacrificing martyr with me Sakura!" Mizuki whispered again but Sakura could see her eyes were alight with anger and fear. She could tell that Tsunade had looked up in shock at Mizuki but for all the wisdom that comes from age, she kept quiet. "He came back to you and now you're going to just give up?" Mizuki snapped, still whispering. "You've come far enough to confess everything you've been feeling and now you're just going to leave it at that? Yeah you saved his body but what about his heart? You know well better than I do Sakura that Naruto's heart is too big for his own good." She paused as she thought to how she'd hurt him. "If you let go now it would kill him in more ways than one. He loves you Sakura. He's always loved you. You can trust me on that one. And me…well…you've got nothing to fear from me." She said as she glanced back to where Sasuke was leaning over Naruto.

"Mizuki-chan…" Sakura didn't know what to say. She was angry at Mizuki's words but at the same time she swore she could feel the blood in her veins pumping a little easier. "Sasuke-kun is…"

"An idiot." Mizuki finished with a small smile. "And so am I. As perceptive a person as I am most of the time, I've misunderstood a lot of things since coming here. He was probably the biggest one. Maybe it's for the best that things happened the way they did. I think it's safe to say that all of us have changed in some way since this whole mess started but his is probably the most drastic. Don't ask me why or how I know cuz I don't exactly understand it myself, but I felt it just now when he was holding me." Her eyes faded for an instant before becoming hard again. "You're the only one in Naruto's heart, Sakura believe me. That's why you have to hold on. You just can't do this to him now."

XXX

"Sakura-chan are you alright?" Sakura came back from her mind's eye to see Naruto peering at her quizzically from about two inches away. She gasped in surprise and shoved him away. Of course, not considering her immense strength, even when she wasn't focusing chakra, she sent him flying quite a few feet across the floor.

"Naruto I'm sorry!" She yelled out as the situation fully returned to her. She almost leapt out of bed, despite her injuries but Naruto was instantly on his feet and shaking himself off.

"You'd think I'd have learned that lesson by now." He mumbled as he picked up his chair and sat back down in it.

"What lesson?" Sakura asked.

"Not to come within three feet of you when you're spacing out." He said annoyed but couldn't hide a smile at the look on her face.

"Well you never were one to learn things quickly." She snapped but her eyes softened and she ignored the flush across her face as she gently took his hand. "But I guess I'm no better."

Naruto looked at her confused for a moment before realizing what she meant. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at her lap and her face had the slightest tinge of pink that almost matched her hair. She had a wistful smile on her face and Naruto suddenly felt an urge that was altogether different than anything he'd experienced with Mizuki. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze as he stood up from the chair and sat instead on the side of her bed.

Sakura looked up at him when he squeezed her hand and she wanted to ask him just what the hell he was doing sitting on her bed. But when she looked in his eyes she was instantly silenced. His impossibly blue eyes stared into her and she felt as though he was looking right through her. If he was, he obviously liked what he saw because a ghost of a smile played on his lips and if possible, his eyes shone even more. Only in dreams she would never admit to having had she imagined seeing the love, respect and desire she saw now in those eyes. She wanted to speak; she wanted to tell him that she understood now and that everything she saw in his eyes she felt, just as much if not more than he did. But though her mouth opened, no words made it past her lips. The same force that kept her gaze locked on his stopped them cold. It also narrowed her vision to just his face. She couldn't see anything else around her so she didn't notice when Naruto let go of her hand and brought his left hand up to cup the side of her face. She felt his skin warm against her skin. This feeling enveloped her senses so, that she didn't notice her hand reach up for the collar of his shirt. She gently pulled him closer, expecting the same feeling of nervousness that she'd had with Sasuke but instead all she felt was pure elation when he leaned forward suddenly and captured her mouth with his own.

His kiss was gentle and sweet, but also a little hesitant. It felt like he was holding back, as though he was afraid to hurt her. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his much more firmly and she felt his hesitation disappear. His hand went from her cheek to being entwined in her hair and her hands reached up to cup his face. The more their kiss deepened, the more euphoric Sakura felt. She couldn't believe she'd waited so long, risked so much with her stubbornness. Of anything that had ever happened to her in her life; becoming a shinobi, training as Tsunade's pupil, getting Sasuke back; none of these things felt as right as being in his arms.

When they finally parted, she leaned her forehead against his and they sat like that for minutes that felt like long, blissful hours. She barely heard his whispers above the pounding of her heart but she smiled and whispered the same. If only for today, all was right in the world.

A/N: That should satisfy any fluffsters out there who wanted to see these pairings get serious. The plan is in place, but danger looms iminent and now Naruto is out of the game! What does Mizuki have up her sleeve? Can she possibly survive the coming battle? Or will tragedy strike now that Sasuke has finally released the strong seal he had on his heart? Only one way to find out! :) Thanks for reading and have a great week!


	19. The Plan Commences

A/N: Well holy crap it's been a while hasn't it? I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update I really am. I moved at the end of April (anyone who has done it knows how time consuming it is), my internet was having issues since then (I just got it fixed properly last week actually) and just the weekend before last I was at Anime North in Toronto (FABULOUS time!) I apologize to Isis especially since you've been so awesome with your reviews :) But I digress, here we are again! Close now, so close! Enjoy!

Chapter 19

The Plan Commences

Mizuki awoke with a start and sat up straight in bed, her heart thumping madly. She took several deep breaths to calm her jack hammering heart while straining her ears to hear the sound which had awoken her. She whipped her tired eyes around her room, blinking through the darkness to detect any sign of an intruder but calm shadows were all she saw. She sighed deeply and released the death-like grip she had on her sheets. She glanced over at the bedside clock and groaned. It was only just after two in the morning. She hadn't fallen asleep until after midnight. Quietly cursing under her breath, Mizuki threw back her sheets and swung her legs over the side of the bed, which immediately began to shake as the sound that had jarred her from sleep rumbled through the house again. Mizuki froze as the sound, not a bang, more a quiet roar, slowly subsided.

"I knew I wasn't hearing things!" She whispered urgently to no one. Her paralysis broke as she realized that along with the roaring sound, she could see faint orange light beyond her curtains. She immediately turned around and leapt over her bed to the far side of the room and ripped her door open.

"What the hell is going on?" She thought desperately as she dashed across the short distance between her and Sasuke's rooms and practically crashed through the door.

"Sasuke wake up! There's something weird going on…huh?" She stopped short as she saw that Sasuke's bed was empty. The quiet roar that she felt more than heard grumbled its way through the house again and Sasuke's room was suddenly alight with orange light. Mizuki looked to the window to see that his curtains were open. Immediately fearful that Sasuke had been attacked and was now fighting, Mizuki crossed his room almost instantly and looked out the window in the direction the orange light was coming from. Her breath caught in her throat.

Sasuke's window, like her own, looked out to the backyard where the pavilion was located, silent and dark at this hour but at the moment, alight enough to chase away the most relentless darkness as another blast of fire shot straight across the water in front of it, barely missing it. Mizuki looked to the origin of the fireball to where Sasuke stood on the edge of the pond, breathing heavily. His face was shrouded in darkness but it was thrown into stark relief as he drew in breath and muttered "Goukakyuu No Jutsu!" Mizuki watched as another huge ball of fire raced across the otherwise still waters of the pond, so well controlled that the water barely rippled, to disappear into a puff of smoke at the far end.

Mizuki's eyes were wide and her mouth was dry as a bone as the memories that returned when seeing the trademark Uchiha jutsu blazed their way across her mind even more brightly than the fire that yet again blazed in front of her. Even on the other side of the well insulated windows, Mizuki could feel the heat the jutsu gave off and would have taken a moment to wonder why the surrounding flora (not to mention the pavilion and house) didn't immediately catch fire, but she could no longer see Sasuke and the fireballs he sent hurtling past where she remained hidden. The only person she saw now was Itachi.

XXX

She had returned home from what passed for the market in her small village later than expected. While doing nothing more complicated than buying bread, she had once again found herself trying to explain, or rather defend her new friend to the other villagers. She knew they were suspicious of him and worried about her. But she tossed their ignorant comments off as she usually did while making her selections. They would never understand. She loved him and that was all that mattered.

Now as she entered the front room, put the basket down and slipped out of her sandals, she smiled. One of the fruit stands she so often frequented had begun showcasing a new product. A process shown to the proprietor when he had traveled to the country of waves. He had called it jam and when he'd put some on a piece of bread for Mizuki to try, she'd been so enraptured, she'd bought three different flavours. She had decided that strawberry was her favourite; she wondered which one he would like.

"Itachi-sama, I'm home! You'll never believe what I got at the market!" She called happily as she made her way into the kitchen. The smile faltered a bit when she got no response. "Itachi-sama? Are you alright?" She searched the house but he was not there. Immediately her heart started pounding and she found it hard to breathe. He wasn't supposed to leave like this! She couldn't live without him! What was she going to do? She dropped the bag, spilling the strawberry jam, and ran out the back door. She ran past her garden, not seeing him anywhere in eyesight. Her heart hurt now and a terrible pulsing had started behind her eyes. Where was he? She reached the crest of a hill that marked the end of her property and nearly cried as she saw him on the other side of the hill at the bottom. She wanted to run to him, only in his arms would the horrible feelings go away but she remained still as she heard him yell something she didn't understand. He raised his fingers to his lips and immediately a huge fireball, more enormous than anything she'd ever seen emerged and flew out from him, incinerating a lone tree, which had apparently been his target.

Mizuki stood frozen for a moment. "He's a ninja?" She thought amazed and a little frightened. It had only been three weeks since their fateful meeting along the side of the road on her way home from market just like she'd been that day. After his collapse, she'd brought him home with her and tended his fever. He'd only just begun showing signs of recovery and had not said much to her except when he looked into her eyes and expressed his gratitude that she'd taken care of him. Her heart swelled again at the thought of those calm brown eyes. "It doesn't matter if he's a ninja or not, I love him and that's all that matters."

She was brought back abruptly from her reverie as she saw that Itachi had taken notice of her and was waving her over. A huge smile lit her face as she ran down the hill to him and straight into his arms. Almost instantly, an uncomfortable pressure started in the back of her mind. A small voice yelled out, "What are you doing? This isn't right! He's dangerous!" She blinked and stood back from him. She could see the concerned look on his face but it wasn't making her feel better, if anything the knots in her stomach grew worse.

"Mizuki-chan, are you alright?" He lifted her chin with a finger so she was looking into his eyes. Eyes that shone with concern and a red glow that immediately dominated all of her senses. She blinked for a few seconds as thought she had gotten something in her eye but when she looked at him again, she was smiling. The horrible, uneasy feeling was gone. She could no longer remember having it in the first place.

"I'm fine now." She smiled wider at the look of relief on his face. He truly loved her. She was so lucky. "What are you doing down here? When I came home and I couldn't find you, I was worried."

"I'm sorry I worried you." He said placating as he kissed her gently on the forehead. "But now that I'm finally feeling better I've got to retrain my body. I was ill for so long I'm feeling out of shape."

"I didn't know you were a ninja." Mizuki said with an awed voice that sounded like it was coming from a high-pitched microphone.

"I was raised a ninja." He said with a less than pleasant smile. "Does that frighten you?"

"Of course not!" She lied, images of her village's massacre and parent's death a year before passing before her eyes. "What you just did now was amazing!"

"It is the Goukakyuu No Jutsu. It is a relatively simple jutsu, but one that was important to my family. Mastery of this jutsu meant passage into manhood in my clan. It has become our trademark over the decades." Itachi said this with pure contempt in his voice, but all Mizuki heard was tenderness and love for his family he'd so tragically lost. It made her love him even more.

"I'll bet you were an incredible shinobi Itachi-sama." Mizuki said in an awed voice that, even through her delusions, sounded as though it were coming from another person.

Itachi looked at how utterly under his control she was and his eyes narrowed evilly. "Would you like to see more?" Mizuki nodded eagerly. She was so excited to learn more about him. The more he opened up to her, the more in love with him she felt.

He turned away from her and raised his hands but before he started making seals, he stopped short and turned to her again. "Mizuki-chan, would you like to learn what I'm doing?"

Mizuki was shocked but the smile that split her face gave her answer. "You mean you can teach me? I thought it took years to train properly as a ninja? That you had to belong to a hidden ninja village?"

"I can make your body learn in days what normally takes years." He said in a perfectly smooth voice. "I have that ability. It will be hard on you, your body will ache as though you have run a million miles, but you are the feistiest girl I have ever known. I know you will survive it. Consider it my payment for continuing to take care of me."

Mizuki didn't hear the word 'survive' nor did she hear the incessant pleas in the back of her mind to stop and run away. She knew he would never hurt her, no matter what the other villagers said about harboring a stranger in a time of war. She loved him and that was all that mattered. She nodded immediately. "I want to learn whatever you have to teach me." He nodded at the determination in her voice.

"Then close your eyes." He placed both hand firmly on her shoulders as she did as she was told. The fact that he was pinching her shoulders a little too hard didn't faze her. He always knew best. She could feel pressure begin to build in the air around her, making the air seem suddenly much thicker. She fought the urge to cough. His hands pressed on her shoulders more intensely and she frowned at the pain. But before it became unbearable, he suddenly shouted, "Look at me!" She opened her eyes and looked into what seemed to her the red fires of hell itself…

XXX

Sasuke was officially out of breath. He stooped over and rested his hands on his knees, breathing hard. How many had that been? Ten? Twelve? He couldn't remember. He knew he hadn't done that many in a row since his time with Orochimaru. Back then; he'd been able to pull off at least fifteen in a row before breathing this hard.

"I know it's been a while but that was too hard." He thought to himself annoyed. "I have to be able to pull this off perfectly tomorrow or Mizuki…" He stopped that thought train right in its tracks. He couldn't afford to think about what might happen if something went wrong tomorrow. Especially now that Naruto and Sakura were both out of the game. Sasuke considered the irony that he was finally going to defeat his brother, but his two best friends would not be there. Only Mizuki would be there, smack dab in the middle of things and she could end up…

"I won't let it happen." He snapped to himself grimly as he pulled in another three lungfulls of air and released them a moment later, ignoring the heat as it singed his skin. "After all he's done, I've waited too long for this. I will protect her!"

Half an hour later, Sasuke relented and dragged his exhausted body back into the house. He paused in confusion when he reached his bedroom door only to see that it was ajar. A sheepish thumping began in his heart. He'd tried to be quiet but he must have woken her up. She must have entered his room in a panic, wondering what was going on. She had probably seen him outside the window and was waiting for him to return. Half a smile had found its way onto his face when he opened the door to the empty room. He fought the disappointed feeling back and shook his head.

"Of course she's still asleep. I was careful. She needs her sleep anyway. Just like I do." So why were his feet carrying him to her door?

Telling himself that just seeing her peacefully asleep would calm his nerves, Sasuke turned the knob without so much as a squeak and carefully pushed it open. Mizuki was lying on her side, facing away from him; one bare leg stretched out from covers half askew. Her hair was sprayed out behind her on the pillow and Sasuke watched as her shoulder slowly rose and fell in time with her breathing. He felt his heart calm and though the urge was once more irresistible to wake her and wrap her in his arms, he closed the door quietly and went back to his own room.

"Tomorrow." He whispered to himself. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.

Mizuki's wide eyes stared at the alarm clock. The numbers glowed red and smoldering as though they were on fire and she could feel her heart start to beat even faster.

XXX

"Have I made myself completely clear?" Tsunade barked at the three shinobi standing in front of her.

"Yes Tsunade-sama." They chorused back.

"Alright. Kakashi has Itachi's last known location just outside the village. If Sasuke is correct, that should be enough. I look forward to good news. Dismissed." The three turned and walked away, leaving Tsunade scowling. Despite her confidence in the plan Sasuke had put together, she felt terribly uneasy about sending Mizuki into the danger she would soon be in.

"I should go challenge Shizune to a game of Janken Pon." She thought as she reluctantly turned back to her office. "Once I lose to her I'll feel better."

XXX

Neji was waiting just inside the Great Gates next to an amazingly calm Mizuki. He stole another glance at her as she casually leaned against the wall, humming with her eyes closed. He wondered how she could be so relaxed considering what he knew she would have to do. He might have said something to her but his attention was distracted by the sound of footsteps. He turned to see Kakashi, Shikamaru and Sasuke walking towards them, all looking very serious. Mizuki stopped humming and stood up straight as they approached. Her face was serious but she could not hide the casual smile in her eyes.

"Does she believe so wholeheartedly that we will protect her? Or is it something else?" Neji thought suddenly feeling uneasy.

Sasuke walked straight up to Mizuki and nodded at her, trying unsuccessfully to appear calm and confident. "Ready?"

Mizuki nodded, her confidence not feigned. "Let's get this over with." She turned and walked through the gate without another word. Her four shinobi protectors split up into two teams and took off in opposite directions.

Mizuki followed the path that led from Konoha for maybe fifteen minutes before turning to the left and entering the forest. She had made sure to wear comfortable shoes and clothing that covered her arms and legs but the bushes and trees in Konoha's forest were strong, scratching her skin even through her clothes. She pushed on, not sure where exactly she was headed, only sure that she was going in the right direction. Tsunade had put two members of the Anbu Black Ops on the duty of finding Itachi's whereabouts when he disappeared after the last confrontation. Through highly secret and forbidden jutsu she had authorized especially for this, they had been able to narrow his location to somewhere in the southwestern section of the forest. They hadn't been able to pinpoint his position exactly but it didn't matter. Mizuki knew that as long as he could feel her there, he would come. Even knowing it was a trap, he would come.

She walked slowly for another ten minutes when all of a sudden, her heart felt like it was being held under a tap running only ice-cold water. She stopped and took a few deep breaths. Then she smiled.

"You know a guy has had an effect on a girl when…" She yelled irritably into the too quiet forest.

"Is that why you have come here alone?" A cold voice suddenly issued from right behind her. She whirled around but saw no one.

"Hmph, something like that." She muttered. "Why don't you come out Itachi, I want to talk to you." She was met with silence. "Oh? Scared now after being so cocky the other night? Even though I'm here all by my little lonesome. I think I'm disappointed."

"Do you really expect me to think this isn't a trap?" The voice crooned ever so quietly from all directions in the forest, making Mizuki shiver.

"On the contrary, I expect you to know it's a trap. I know you've already checked me out with your Sharingan to see if it's really me. That's why I came alone. I needed to get to you before your brother brought reinforcements."

"Is that so?" Itachi was still hidden but the voice was closer now. Mizuki fought the smile she could feel forming. "And have you finally decided to give me what I require?"

"Not bloody likely." Said smugly, crossing her arms. "I like my eyes right where they are thank you. No I've come before the cavalry to give you a chance to escape. They won't pursue you if you leave here and never bother me or Konoha again." As the words left her lips she grimaced. Even saying them they sounded corny so she wasn't surprised when she heard the cheeky laughter seeming to come from everywhere at once.

"You can't be serious." Itachi's voice was amused. "You're the whole reason I came to Konoha in the first place. If I were to leave without your eyes I may as well go off and die."

"Well there's an option." Mizuki said amused. "But somehow I didn't think you'd be to eager for that. So I'll level with you." She paused for a long moment but then sighed in resignation. "I will leave with you right now and give you whatever you need. Just leave Sasuke and Konoha out of it."

There was silence for so long Mizuki was beginning to think he didn't believe her but just as she was about to say it again, out of the stillness came, "What did you say?"

Mizuki heaved an exasperated sigh. "What are you deaf or did I suddenly start speaking in Japanese without realizing it? I don't have time for games Itachi. Sasuke and a whole squad from Konoha are on their way and I seriously doubt you have your full strength back yet or you would have attacked and taken my eyes already and I wouldn't have had the pleasure of this ever so stimulating conversation. You heard what I said. Yes or no?"

Low laughter came from the trees surrounding Mizuki. "You love my brother that much that you would be willing to give your life for him?"

"Now you're the one who's sounding corny." Mizuki said in an amused voice. "But yes. You must never go near Sasuke or Konoha again. Never seek your brother again Itachi I mean it. He's suffered enough thanks to you."

From somewhere in the trees, two figures were starting to panic. "What the hell is she saying? This isn't what was planned!"

"I don't know! She was just supposed to keep him in one place while we laid the trap! She's not supposed to be going off anywhere with him!"

"What do we do?"

"We watch and wait. Capturing Itachi is still our highest priority."

"Well?" Mizuki yelled louder to the nothingness in front of her. "Yes or no?"

"Very well." Itachi's voice was even louder. The two figures in the trees struggled to see him but to no avail. "On one condition."

"Condition?" Mizuki asked. "I'm giving you my eyes and my life and you're talking about conditions? Damn you're a cheeky bastard."

"Oh it's nothing major. Just leave the vial of sand you have in your pocket."

Mizuki froze. "What?"

"You thought to gain my trust and then have the former Ichibi Jinchurrikki rescue you once again? A good idea…but you cannot hope to fool me twice."

"Apparently not." Mizuki muttered angrily as she took the vial from her pocket and gently laid it on the ground in front of her. "You always were too intuitive for my own good." She stepped back from her salvation with her arms up. "We have a deal?"

"Yes. I will leave Konoha and my brother to their own devices. All I want is you." Mizuki shuddered but remained stoic. "Walk for 30 minutes Southward. You will find me there and then we will leave the Fire Country once and for all."

Mizuki nodded and, sparing one last glance at the connection to her saviour, turned south and began walking.

XXX

"Naruto, if you don't stop pacing, injured or not I will knock you back to your own room."

As anyone would have expected, Naruto was not taking his inability to participate in the Itachi's capture very well. He had tried pleading with Tsunade but she had flat out denied him, saying it was his own fault for not listening to her and using that jutsu in the first place. He'd gone from pleading to annoying; hoping his determination would win her over as it usually did but no dice. She had threatened to have him restrained in bed if he kept it up, so he had reluctantly gone back to the hospital where he was transferring his frustration onto Sakura.

"Really Naruto, the gloves are in the drawer beside my bed."

"Yeah well when you do knock me, would you mind sending me to where our friends are fighting without us?"

Sakura sighed. "Not knowing what's going on is driving me crazy too. But what can we do? We're no good to them injured like this. We'd only be in the way."

Naruto seemed to deflate as she said the last sentence and finally sat down in the chair next to her bed. "I know I could help Sakura-chan. Even with my arm in this state. And I know Mizuki-chan will need my help."

"Sasuke-kun's plan is a very good one and Mizuki-chan will have two Jounins plus Shikamaru and Sasuke-kun and you know he won't let anything happen to her."

"Itachi isn't dumb." Naruto insisted. "He won't fall for the same trick twice." He sighed. "I just have this horrible feeling in my gut that something's going to go very wrong."

"Naruto." Sakura took his hand in hers and looked at him sympathetically. "Are you sure it wasn't that triple order of ramen you had this morning?"

XXX

In Tsunade's office, Gaara blinked suddenly and turned from where he was incessantly looking out the window.

"Mizuki is no longer holding the vial of sand."

Tsunade looked at him gravely but said nothing, trying to forget about winning all three games of Janken Pon against Shizune.

XXX

Mizuki walked quickly southward but despite the already warm spring day, she felt ice cold. The memories she had regained the night before had given her a measure of confidence in facing Itachi again. She hadn't told Sasuke about waking up, seeing him and remembering the moment when Itachi first burned into her mind the ability to use Taijutsu, she knew he was worried enough about her. But as she walked farther away from the bottle of sand and Sasuke, fear began to envelop her once more. She was reasonably confident she could keep herself from falling under the spell of the Tsukuyomi again. Not that she figured Itachi would be able to use it so soon after the last encounter. She was also sure that she could stave off any physical attacks. What made her more nervous than anything were the incessant flashes of the torture she had endured while under Itachi's influence. They came and went like flies buzzing at her ears, and as equally frustrating to try to get rid of. She was worried that she would be overcome with a flash while fighting against Itachi and lose what little advantage she hoped to have.

She was also worried about Sasuke. In the few hours between waking up and leaving for Tsunade's office, he'd been unnaturally affectionate. Grabbing her into a fierce yet painfully gentle embrace every chance he got, looking at her with eyes that spoke more love than his mouth ever could. He had kissed her on the front porch just before they had left. It had been so gentle and full of emotion Mizuki could have cried. Tears threatened to spring to her eyes as she thought of it now and the message he had, in his own cryptic way, given her.

He was saying goodbye.

Mizuki knew that Sasuke's plan only worked to a point as far as the others knew. She knew full well that he intended to finish Itachi himself, even at the cost of his own life. He was so prepared for the inevitability that he had actually tried to give her what amounted to him to be an emotional goodbye. It pissed her off.

"I'm sorry Sasuke." She muttered under her breath. "No noble shinobi heroics today. No matter what it takes, today I'm going to free the both of us." She walked on, completely unaware of the hooded figure following quickly and silently behind her.

A/N: So what exactly is Sasuke's plan? And what the hell is Mizuki doing by going off on her own? Can they save her? Will Sakura end up putting Naruto through the wall? All this and more in my next installment which, I promise, will come soon :) Thanks for reading and have a great week!


	20. Different Plans, Same Goal

13

_ My God how long has it been right? For those of you who have this fic on their alert list I can only apologize. I seemed to have a real issue getting this to end the way I wanted it to. But one more chapter after this and it's done! And the last chapter will be up in the next couple days I promise! So thank you for continuing to read this and not losing faith that I'd eventually finish...and if you did lose faith...sorry! :)_

**Chapter 20**

**Different Plans, Same Goal**

"It would be much easier to concentrate without you hovering over my shoulder like that."

"You're a Jounin, you're supposed to be able to concentrate in the middle of a life and death battle."

"Yes well a life and death battle doesn't usually smell like three cups of coffee with too much sugar. It's distracting." Neji grumbled at his unusually hyperactive partner.

"Whatever. Do you see anything yet?"

"I can only see Mizuki-chan. I know he's close but I can't see any…wait. I think that's him." Neji narrowed his eyes, pushing his Byakugan to its limits.

"Is it him? Where is he?"

"I can't tell if it's him or not. It's just a figure in a black cloak and…" Neji paused and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I can't see this person's chakra network."

"Why not?"

"If I knew, would I sound this surprised? Honestly Shikamaru, I don't think I've ever seen you this jumpy before. You're usually quite calm and collected. What's gotten into you?"

"It's this cockamamie plan. Sasuke comes up with it, Mizuki changes it, and now she's off on her own and we're playing catch up trying to…well…catch up. I don't like it."

"I understand but I also believe she knows what she's doing." Neji said, remembering how confident Mizuki seemed when they had headed out. "We just need to protect her until Sasuke and Kakashi can make their move."

"Yeah I know." Shikamaru grumbled. He turned away from where Neji was still concentrating heavily, sat down on a branch and plucked at a leaf lazily. His eyes opened wide as the leaf suddenly seemed to melt onto his fingers. He flicked his fingers together in a useless attempt to get rid of the strange substance but it oozed down his arm, growing bigger as it traveled. He looked to Neji who was no longer looking to where Mizuki continued to walk but was staring at his own fingers in disbelief.

"Neji…" Shikamaru said quickly as the leaf/ooze creature began to crawl up the side of his face.

"I know." Neji said as he watched his own arm peeling itself like an onion. "It seems we were a little careless."

XXX

Mizuki walked in the direction Itachi had told her for about twenty minutes before stopping dead as she heard two anguished yells far behind her. Her heart rate doubled. He'd found them. Now she truly was on her own. Praying for her friend's safety and that she was correct in her assumptions, she continued on.

Just a few minutes later, she came to a stop again and turned around. When she had left Konoha, the sun had just begun to peek through the trees, filling the forest around her with warm rays of light. But the path she had just woven through the forest was black as pitch. And walking through it towards her, even blacker in his hooded cloak than the pitch darkness in his wake, came Itachi. He stopped not ten feet away from where she stood.

"Are you ready?" His voice was low and strained.

"Can't see how I'd ever be ready for you to kill me but I am resigned." Mizuki replied and, ignoring the furious pounding of her heart, took a step towards Itachi.

"I have dealt with the two shinobi who were following you. There is now no way for Sasuke to track us. I will not be denied this time." Itachi took a step closer to Mizuki who immediately went pale under his intense glare.

"Are they…"

"I have not killed them. I will keep my end of the bargain." Itachi said in what passed for a soothing voice. Mizuki sighed and he could see the tension and resolve leave her body. He chuckled to himself. As long as she believed her friends were safe, she would cooperate. Once she was dead however, and her eyes were his, all bets would be off.

"Then do what you will." Mizuki took a step closer again.

"No." The word was simple and demanding but Sasuke thought he could hear the anxiousness in Kakashi's voice all the same. "Not yet."

Sasuke hissed his frustration as quietly as he could. Even knowing his own plan as well as he did, he couldn't keep his heart from trying to thump its way clear of his chest. Its beat was so violent he almost wished he could shoot it upon his brother, knowing it would do more damage than any ninjutsu he knew. As it was, his chest was far too effective a barrier, keeping his furious heart yelling, but restrained within him. The thought brought no comfort.

He and Kakashi had been waiting not entirely patiently for the sign from Shikamaru and Neji. Which they had received quite clearly not even ten minutes before Mizuki came into view. Sasuke watched as she walked slowly but with purpose and his heart ached. She believed completely that their plan would succeed and he would protect her. He hadn't the heart to tell her she was only half right. He thought he had seen a flicker of annoyance in her eyes after he had last kissed her in front of his house. He wouldn't be at all surprised to learn she had figured out what he intended to do. He fought back a smirk. Her annoyingly accurate perception was one of the reasons he'd fallen for her in the first place. The other reason was made painfully clear as she turned to face Itachi with a straight face and voice she fought to keep from wavering.

Sasuke looked from Mizuki to Itachi and was heartened to realize that he had gotten at least a part of his plan right. Itachi looked horrible! The skin around his eyes had turned red and swollen. His eyes themselves were squinted almost shut and they were watering incessantly. He lifted his right finger as thought to flick something annoying from it. Mizuki flinched but did not move.

"I was right." He thought, fighting the urge to burst from his hiding spot and take him out right there. "Even with the few days of rest, he's used his eyes too much in the last few weeks. Attacking Shikamaru and Neji was it. He's at his limit. It's even affecting his ability to move properly and speak. He probably wouldn't be able to take Mizuki's life never mind her eyes. Not unless she…"

"What's she doing?" Sasuke said a little too loudly, causing a bird to take flight from where it had been sitting mere feet away from him quietly only seconds before.

Mizuki had closed the distance between her and Itachi and was looking up into his eyes with a small smile on her face! And as Sasuke watched, suddenly frozen, she reached up with her right hand and gently caressed the side of Itachi's face!

"Mizuki…" Itachi began but his voice was no louder than a whisper.

"Itachi-sama…" Mizuki said quietly. Her face was deathly white and her eyes glistened with unshed tears but she closed the last bit of space between herself and Itachi and before Itachi could react, she leaned in and laid her head on his chest!

"But…that's impossible!" Sasuke bit his tongue to keep from saying a few random curses out loud. He looked to Kakashi, his own shocked reflected back at him. "This wasn't part of the plan at all!" Sasuke thought desperately, feeling the small stirrings of panic. "He wasn't supposed to be able to put her under his influence again! He was supposed to be at his limit in trying to stop Shikamaru and Neji! He's this strong?" He watched in no small amount of shock, trying desperately to reconfigure his well thought out plan as Mizuki wrapped her arms around Itachi!

"I missed you so much Itachi-sama." Mizuki murmured. She looked up at him with a wistful smile on her face, which disappeared as she saw his eyes. "Itachi-sama! What happened to you? You're eyes are all swollen!" She reached up with her left hand and gingerly brushed the hair from his face.

Itachi's smile was as sinister and malicious as any smile could be as he looked down at his once again willing victim. He'd tried the Tsukuyomi, almost certain it wouldn't work this time. He knew he was at his limit, the strain was certainly showing. He thought he wouldn't b able to pull it off after taking care of the two meddlesome Konoha ninja's following Mizuki. But here she was, right back in his arms. Ready and willing to do anything to help him. Ready to die for him.

"My love." He crooned as he hugged her close to him. "I'm so glad I found you at last. I've looked everywhere. Did Sasuke and his horrible friends hurt you?" He asked this last with an eyebrow raised, uncertain he should be bringing up the name of the man she loved but needing to know how under his control she actually was.

She looked very confused. "Who?"

Itachi's grin could have split his face in two. "It's not important anymore. What matters is you are safe."

"Those people you mentioned…" Mizuki looked like she was trying to remember something hard but she shook her head in dismay. "You must have rescued me from them! That's why you're injured! Oh Itachi-sama I'm so sorry you were hurt because of me! I'll never forgive myself!" She buried her face in her hands and let out a few sobs.

Sasuke watched from his hiding place, feeling very much like a deer caught in headlights. He wanted to leap down and rip Mizuki away from Itachi but seeing her act this way was making him feel a little shell-shocked. "Is this what he did to her before?" He thought amazed and more than a little disgusted. "If I didn't know better I'd swear that was someone in a henge. That is not my Mizuki."

Itachi put his arms on Mizuki's shoulders gently. "It's alright. It's over now. I'll never leave you again." He leaned over and gently kissed her on top of her head.

Sasuke didn't even feel himself move. One minute he was sitting on a high tree branch watching this impossible scene unfold and the next, he was standing where Itachi had been only moments before leaping out of the way. He looked from Itachi's sneer to Mizuki's terrified but completely blank expression and back to Itachi.

"Let her go." Was all he said but had it been anyone other than Itachi the words were directed to, they would have taken off with their tails soundly between their legs.

"I beg your pardon little brother." Itachi sneered. "But it's rather rude of you to intrude on a loving couple's intimate moment I must say."

Sasuke gritted his teeth in forced restraint but turned to Mizuki. "Mizuki get out of here now. I'll hold him off." He had hoped that seeing him would jog her brain into fighting the genjutsu but watching as she backed away from him and then ran so she was in front of Itachi with her arms spread wide to protect him, Sasuke realized it wasn't going to be that simple. She was well and truly befuddled. His mind raced frantically. How could he take Itachi out without hurting Mizuki?

Itachi laughed. "What was that you were saying little brother? It seems the girl is quite determined to stay. What do you say Sasuke? Are you willing to go through her to get to me?"

Sasuke looked from Mizuki's frightened but determined expression to Itachi's utterly merciless eyes and growled his frustration.

XXX

"I can't take it anymore!" Naruto said for, what felt like to Sakura, the thousandth time. He jumped up from the chair beside her bed and paced angrily to the window. He stared out of it with a dangerous look, hoping desperately for any sign of his returning friends; the ones he could not help.

Sakura just stared after him saying nothing. She knew it wasn't worth getting into another fight about their inability to help their friends. Truth be told, she was just as frustrated and worried about the team in the woods but thanks to the maturity and restraint that made her such a perfect match for Naruto, she was able to stay relatively calm.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said quietly from where he still stared out the window.

"No." She replied simply to the unsaid statement.

Naruto turned to look at her. "There's something wrong Sakura-chan I can feel it! Something's gone horribly wrong! They need my help!"

"You're help with what? You can't use chakra right now or are you looking to damage yourself to the point where you can never use it again?"

"What good is chakra if I can't even use it to protect my friends?" He growled and opened the window.

Sakura looked at him surprised but that was quickly replaced with a tender look. She gingerly got out of bed and walked to where she could tell Naruto was having great difficulty keeping himself from leaping out the window. She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at the surprised look on his face.

"Sakura-chan what are you?...You shouldn't be out of bed yet!"

"I know you're going to go whether or not I say so aren't you?" She looked at him seriously. He tried to look back just as fiercely but had to turn away from those beautiful eyes. Sakura sighed.

"Alright then, let's go." She grabbed the window sill before Naruto grabbed her hand and quickly removed it.

"What the hell do you mean 'let's go'? YOU are not going anywhere Sakura-chan. YOU are not even supposed to be out of bed yet!"

"WE'RE going Naruto or WE'RE staying. It's really as simple as that. Besides, if you're intuition is right, they didn't take a medical ninja with them. I can't fight in this condition but I can do that much."

Naruto looked supremely unhappy but he knew there was nothing for it. "Fine." He grumbled as he gently picked her up. "But stay the hell out of the way this time. If I see you within one hundred feet of any sword I will not forgive you!" He heard her chuckle slightly and sigh behind him and he leapt out the hospital room window.

"Okay Sakura! I know it's early but Gaara's occupying himself for a few minutes so I figured I'd stop by and see if I can't make any more improvement..." The rest of Tsunade's words fell soundlessly from her lips as she entered Sakura's all too empty room. She looked to the open window and sighed heavily. "That's it. I'm going to have to live forever aren't I?"

"What do you mean Tsunade-sama?" Shizune, who had almost walked right into her mentor when she had stopped suddenly, asked confused.

"I can't ever die." Tsunade said. "I'm going to have to be Hokage forever. I can't leave the future of Konoha to this generation! They're too damn stupid! They'll have the place destroyed in a month! What would my grandfather say?" And with that she turned and stormed from the room muttering angrily about sending Anbu after them, leaving an utterly speechless Shizune standing in the empty room.

XXX

Watching from his still concealed hiding placed, Kakashi cursed quietly. "So much for the plan. I never dreamed Itachi would be able to place Mizuki-chan under his influence again. I have to think fast before Sasuke decides the only way really is through Mizuki-chan."

Sasuke, for his part, hadn't moved yet. Neither had Itachi or Mizuki. It felt to Sasuke like the world's longest stalemate.

"Mizuki move. Please." Sasuke said calmly enough. Only his tightly clenched fists gave his anger away.

"Huh nice try but even good manners aren't going to get you anywhere near him. You'll have to go through me." Mizuki growled.

"You're not thinking straight Mizuki. You can't have forgotten everything that's happened over the last couple of weeks. Everything we did. Everything we are to each other!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mizuki spat out looking at Sasuke like he had three heads. "I don't even know who the hell you are!"

Sasuke looked at her shocked but quickly looked away, desperately trying to ignore the sudden crack that appeared in his all too recently healed heart.

"My love." Itachi stepped forward and placed a hand on Mizuki's shoulder. "Your loyalty to me gives me all the strength I need. I will deal with this bother. I won't have you harmed."

"Itachi-sama." Mizuki looked at Itachi with a face of such concern and tenderness that Sasuke honestly felt as though he would be sick. She placed her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, smiling evilly at Sasuke.

XXX

Tsunade was still mumbling incoherently to herself as she made her way back to her office when she turned a corner and came face to face with Gaara. "Gaara! What's..."

"Something's wrong." Gaara's eyes were narrowed dangerously. "The plan has failed. We must go to them now!"

"Are you sure?" Tsunade didn't get a chance to say anything else before Gaara

brought up a vial of sand before his face, popped the cork and then disappeared in a swoosh of sand and wind. Tsunade stared at the sand on the hospital floor for a long moment before she growled loudly, yelled to Shizune to hurry up and took off running down the hall.

XXX

Naruto sprinted as fast as he dared into the forest while trying not to move Sakura too much. Branch to branch he leapt, trying to ignore the pain in his arm and the intensely uneasy feeling in his heart. "I can feel it!" He thought desperately. "Something's wrong!"

Naruto hadn't made it 100 yards into the thick of the forest when he sensed movement beneath him and stopped dead on a rock. He slowly lowered Sakura to the ground and motioned for her to be quiet. He crept forward, kunai in hand to a bush just a few feet away from which some very haggard breathing could be heard. He was within a breath of moving the leaves aside when a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his arm!

Naruto stumbled backwards but the hand on his arm held strong and consequently, he brought the person that hand belonged to right out of the bush on top of him as he landed hard on his butt. Shikamaru let go at the last minute and rolled away before he could head butt Naruto and landed sprawled on his back beside him.

"Was that..." Naruto breathed out as he rolled himself up and stared down at Shikamaru, "Really NECESSARY?"

Shikamaru looked at Naruto and let out an out of breath chuckle. "Sorry Naruto, but considering how long it's been since we lost sight of Mizuki, I thought maybe it was Itachi coming back to finish the job."

"Nice of you to show so much faith in your friend's Shikamaru." Sakura said casually as she kneeled down beside Shikamaru to heal some scratches on his arm. "Where's Neji?"

"Right here." A voice suddenly issued from the bush Shikamaru had just sprung from. "A better question is what do you two think YOU'RE doing here?"

"Ask the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja over there, I'm just here for the ride." Sakura said pointing to where Naruto was looking away from the group off into the forest.

"Naruto what are you thinking? You know you're in no condition..." Neji began but Naruto cut him off.

"Neji where are they?"

"What? Naruto you and Sakura should go back to the hospital, Tsunade-sama will know soon that you've left and she's going to have the whole village coming after you."

"Where are they Neji?" Naruto looked at him and Neji could see the all too familiar look in his friend's eyes. He sighed and after muttering a few choice obscenities and the magic word under his breath, scanned the trees surrounding them.

"That way." Neji said pointing North. "I can see Itachi and Sasuke, but I can't see Mizuki."

That was all Naruto needed to hear. "You two, I'm leaving Sakura-chan in your care. Follow behind quietly in case someone's hurt. I'm going..." But he was cut off by a coughing fit as a cloud of sand appeared out of nowhere and flew at him!

XXX

"Do you understand now how this will end Sasuke?" Itachi said through a pained smile. "She is mine. Completely under my control she will give me her love, her eyes, her life if I asked it. And I fully intend to, after I've taken care of you."

"Bastard." Sasuke could barely form the words. If possible, he clenched his fists even tighter as a vision stormed across his brain. The night he came home and found his parents lying dead in a pool of blood, their eyes wide open as though in complete shock that their oldest son could possibly have done this. His then small self running at Itachi, screaming out his rage and pain, only to be swatted away like an annoying insect. The constant whispers of the villagers that he was sure they knew he could hear. Naruto's face as he lay unconscious and near death after trying to stop Sasuke from leaving in the Valley of the End. Itachi's face when they had last fought three years ago. So full of confidence and yet at the same time, so full of desperation. Mizuki's face as she upped him once again with her sharp as knives wit, her face smiling at him gently before sticking her tongue out at him and walking away, the horrible look on her face as she told him she didn't know who he was...

"ARRRGGGHHH!" Sasuke didn't even hear Kakashi shout as he whipped out his sword and went charging straight for Itachi. His fury was such that had he not been in possession of exemplary reflexes, he might not have stopped in time and run Mizuki through. But just as he was about to bring down his sword he saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks.

The expression on Itachi's face had changed suddenly from one of supreme amusement and confidence to one of utter shock. His mouth opened in a wide "O" as he looked down to where he was still holding Mizuki to him. She was smiling back up at him but this smile was no longer one of tenderness and love. In fact, the anger and hatred that shone from her eyes was so intense that he would have been taken back a step, had he been able to free himself from the knife now buried in his stomach!

"Impossible!" Itachi croaked out as a thin trail of blood ran down his chin.

"I guess I'm a much better actor than I thought." Mizuki said calmly as she wrenched the knife back and watched Itachi sink to his knees. "I'll admit my heart beat just that much faster when you moved your finger. I was pretty confident I could keep myself from falling under your spell again. Especially after you had to incapacitate Shikamaru and Neji. You see Itachi-_sama_, I remembered a very important missing piece of the puzzle last night. I remembered the day you forced into my body all that it meant to be a ninja. Taijutsu, Ninjustu, Genjutsu, all were mine until you stole my chakra from me. Once I remembered that, I realized that you had also given me the ability to fend off you and your itchy genjustu trigger finger. You probably didn't realize that part or you wouldn't have been so utterly confident just now." Mizuki took two steps back from Itachi still with an utterly calm look on her face.

Sasuke looked from Itachi's wound, to his shocked face, to Mizuki's calm face and felt the last of his restraint crack. "What have you done?" He yelled to Mizuki angrily. "Why did you do that? He is mine to kill! I had planned..."

"I know perfectly well what you had planned you jerk!" Mizuki's face was still calm but her voice was razor sharp. "You wanted to make the big sacrifice to kill your brother who is your responsibility! But killing him and yourself won't help anyone! It won't help me..." She trailed off. Sasuke could see her hand where it gripped the knife, white and shaking. He felt his anger melt away.

"I understand." He said quietly as he strode up past her and placed his sword against Itachi's neck. Itachi did not flinch. He sat still, holding his stomach with his eyes still reading shock at what had just happened.

"I'm going to kill you big brother." Sasuke practically whispered as he pressed the blade even more flush against Itachi's neck. "For what you did to our clan and to our parents, but most of all, for the darkness and loneliness you've made us endure all this time." As he said this last he glanced back towards where Mizuki was standing, looking at him with tears in her eyes. He looked back to Itachi who, surprisingly was sitting still and unmoving with a small smile on his face!

"Do you think your impending death funny Itachi?" Kakashi said suddenly, jumping down from his hiding spot and landing just in front of Mizuki.

"Not at all." Itachi finally spoke. As he did, fresh blood trailed down the side of his mouth and oozed from between his fingers as he desperately tried to staunch his wound. "What I find funny, Hatake Kakashi, is that you seem to think you're the ones who are going to cause my death." He looked up then and glared at Sasuke. Sasuke glared right back at him and Itachi hissed as the sword against his neck drew a fresh, though shallow, cut.

"There is nothing you can do! You're at your limit! Give it up!" Mizuki yelled out through tears that were starting to pour. "Why can't you just leave us alone? What did we...what did I ever do to you to deserve this?"

"Simple." Itachi said quietly, turning to look at Mizuki. Kakashi forced her back a step from the murderous glare. "You were a pawn little girl. It's what you were, are and always will be. You were my plaything to be used and thrown away at my whim. That is, until you got that memory back. Might I inquire as to how?"

"I saw Sasuke practicing the Goukakyuu No Jutsu outside the house last night. It's what you were doing the day you...did this to me." Sasuke glanced back at Mizuki and his eyes met hers for a moment but his grip on his sword remained strong.

"Yes that would have done it." Itachi smiled ruefully. "You fooled me, I really didn't think you had it in you, but you've done quite a number on me..._Mizuki-chan._ But you're still fools if you think this will kill me."

"Of course it won't. You haven't lived this long to let a simple stab wound do you in. But I told you." Sasuke spat through gritted teeth. "I will be the one to kill you brother. No one else."

"That is the way it should be of course." Itachi said grimly. "After everything I've done, you are the only one who has the right to take my life. Though it will not bring back any of those I've killed, nor erase the memory of your depraved violation in our lovely Mizuki-chan's mind." Sasuke groaned, his restraint rapidly deteriorating. The sword began to shake slightly in his hands as the fresh rage coursed through him.

"You should learn to control your anger little brother. You might lose your grip, allowing me to escape." Itachi said through an evil grin.

"Even if he did, we sure as hell aren't going to!" Came the bellow just as a huge cloud of sand fell seemingly out of nowhere and enveloped Itachi! Naruto crashed through the trees, his oversized bandaged arm knocking branches out of his way. Just a few paces away, Gaara came crashing behind him. They leapt to where Mizuki was standing just behind Kakashi. Naruto stood beside Kakashi, effectively blocking Mizuki from any danger. Gaara walked up to the now immobile Itachi and glowered at him. Then he looked to Sasuke,

"What are you waiting for? Finish him!"

Sasuke's shock at the two's sudden appearance was broken by Gaara's words. He tightened his grip on the sword which had begun to waver against his will at Itachi's words but was once again straight and steady. Itachi began to struggle against the wall of sand encasing him. As he did, his neck pressed tighter against Sasuke's blade, forcing it to slice slightly deeper into his neck.

What happened next, happened in the space of a single second. Sasuke glanced back to where Kakashi and Naruto had Mizuki safely out of the way. He sighed inwardly, glad she would not see him strike the finishing blow. She'd done enough. As he started to turn his head back to Itachi for what he thought would be the last time, he heard Gaara suddenly cry out. His neck muscles tensed to turn his head that much faster but he was too late. Sand burst into his face, blinding him and catching in his throat. He coughed and sputtered the sand out of his face and saw Gaara sprinting towards an impossibly dark mass, a hammer of sand raised behind him. Sasuke blinked the sand out of his eyes as quickly as he could and suddenly wished he was still blind.

Itachi stood several feet away now, arms raised and not even attempting to staunch the slow but incessant flow of blood from his torso. At first glance he appeared to be standing in the middle of a black hole. But Sasuke quickly realized that the impossible darkness surrounding him came not from within him, but from his raised hands, to which streams of energy were being guided. Where those streams originated, Sasuke could not see. His blind eyes glowed a fierce red and he was chanting something too quiet to be heard.

Gaara ran towards Itachi, constantly adding sand and pressure to the huge hammer he carried behind him. Before he even swung the massively dense weapon however, he sensed it would have no effect and so was unsurprised when the debris cleared and Itachi stood unharmed and not even interrupted. Gaara quickly leapt back to where Sasuke stood.

"What is this?" Gaara yelled at the dumbfounded Sasuke. Sasuke could only shake his head in answer. Had everything Itachi had done until now been a trick? Could he truly have been concealing this much raw power?

"Sasuke!" Naruto ran up to Sasuke and grabbed his shoulder. "We have to stop him!"

"What do you mean? Do you know what this is Naruto?" Sasuke asked incredulously enough but the look on Naruto's face answered his question. For the first time in Sasuke's life, he saw Naruto's face overcome with terror.

"Ero-Sennin told me about this jutsu once. It was something Orochimaru had come up with a long time ago but never perfected so he abandoned it. He said Orochimaru was trying to find a way of taking the energy from other living things and turning that energy into a weapon like a bomb! But the effect was opposite. Instead of an energy bomb, it reversed, still destroying everything around it but taking the ninja along with it! He said it had the potential of destroying 3 or 4 Konoha's!" Naruto spat out as quickly as he could.

Sasuke sighed. Of course this would be something Orochimaru thought up. Who the hell else would think of something so insane and destructive? The thought made his curse mark start yelling again and he swore the pain back.

"So what do we do?" Gaara yelled to Naruto. "My attack had no effect whatsoever! How do we stop him?"

"We can't stop him while he's like this...while he's gathering the energy." Naruto yelled back. "There will be a split second once he stops chanting, before he releases the energy that he will be vulnerable."

"A whole split second huh?" Kakashi said stoically enough as he joined the group. "Well that's comforting."

"Where's Mizuki?" Sasuke demanded. Kakashi pointed behind him where Shikamaru, Neji and Sakura were a distance away with Mizuki, looking more terrified than he'd seen her. He turned back towards Itachi. "If this is going to kill him, why do it? He wants his eyesight back from Mizuki, not death! Itachi there's no point to this! Stop!"

He yelled to his brother but if he heard, he completely ignored him.

"It's possible he's found a way to perfect the jutsu, to stay alive while killing everyone else." Kakashi speculated. "Either way, we've got to be ready to hit him right when he stops chanting. Shikamaru! Neji!" He yelled back. "You two are up here ready to strike! Naruto!" He turned to his injured student. "You get Sakura and Mizuki well away from here now! As far as you can. If you're right and we can't stop him then you must try to escape the blast." Naruto looked like he wanted to argue but thought better of it and leapt away as the other two reached the group and readied their strongest jutsu's.

Sasuke wanted to look at Mizuki one last time but could not bring himself to turn away. He heard her cries of protest as Naruto dragged her away from the battle. The thought of her trying to stay even now steadied him and gave him the strength he needed. He faced his brother, now almost completely enveloped in the pitch blackness that continually absorbed into his hands and seeped out of his very pores like a miasma. He looked at his comrades standing beside him, looks of terror, determination and resignation on their faces. They knew they would not survive this but this is what they had been trained for. Death itself was nothing to fear, the only regret left in Sasuke's heart was that he would never again see the face of the one woman in the world he had come to love.


	21. And You Think It's Over

_Well, my friends and readers, this is it. It's been a long time coming for sure and I only hope it measures up to what you've been expecting. If not you can tell me and if so then please tell me! I would love to hear what you thought of my ending that it took so long to coax out of my brain haha :) Until I get the itch to write again, take care all and enjoy!_

**Chapter 21**

**And You Think It's Over...**

Mizuki had protested mightily when Naruto picked her up and started running hell's speed away from the others but even in his injured state and carrying both her and Sakura, Naruto was far too strong against her struggles. He carried her over his left shoulder backwards while Sakura clung to his right side, riding a distorted piggy back. Consequently Mizuki could see behind them as they ran. She strained to see her friends but the only thing that she could make out besides the leaves and brush they ran rapidly through, was an ever increasing darkness, spreading out all too quickly towards them. Had Sasuke and the other failed already?

"Ummm Naruto-san..." Mizuki said nervously.

"Never mind Mizuki-chan! We're not going back! I promised Sasuke I would get you out of harm's way and that's what I intend to do!" She barely heard Naruto yell over the rush of the wind.

"Well you might not be able to keep that promise if you can't run any faster!" She yelled back loudly. She could not tear her eyes away from the enveloping darkness but saw out of the corner of her eye, Sakura turning around and yelling at Naruto to run faster as well. Naruto, being the strong and yet not always bright ninja that he was, actually slowed down to see what the problem was. When he saw the black bomb racing towards them, his yell outmatched anything that had come from the girls and he took off anew, sprinting for their lives.

Naruto ran for what must have been another ten minutes, trying to ignore Sakura and Mizuki yelling at him to get the ninja lead out and run faster, before realizing that he would likely not be able to outrun the energy carrying the two with him. He needed another plan.

"The cliffs to the East of the village." He thought frantically. "If I can reach them and get down to the bottom quickly, we might stand a chance." He immediately turned to the left and began sprinting faster than ever. But his course change had cost him a precious few seconds and what had been a worrying lead of only 15 or so feet became a frantic lead of only 10. Still he ran, his fiery determination the only thing coaxing his still sore muscles to move. He realized he couldn't hear Mizuki yelling anymore, she had buried her face against his back, no longer able to watch her impending doom close in on her. The thought made him push his legs even harder. "I can see the damn cliffs! I'm almost there! Come on legs do this!" He urged his battered body on, now running almost parallel to the pitch black which threatened to envelope them all. With 5 feet to spare, he burst out of the brush and was running beside the cliff face, looking for a safe way down. At 3 feet he realized there was no safe way to get to the bottom of the cliff. As the dark wave just brushed Mizuki's arm, causing her to cry out in alarm, they were airborne. Naruto had fallen no more than 5 feet when the black bomb flew over where his head had been only seconds before. He could feel the intense energy cause every hair on his body to stand on end. But just as he feared the bomb might drop into the canyon with them, he watched amazed as it flew straight overhead, blotting out the afternoon sun. They had escaped the bomb but they were still falling at a terminal velocity, they no longer had any light by which to see, and Naruto had also let go of Sakura and Mizuki in shock when the lights had gone out. He could hear their helpless cries as they fell away from him. His mind raced. "Gotta break their fall, gotta break their fall!" He flexed his bandaged arm and clasped it with his left arm. Despite the wind rushing his face and the cries of his friends, he concentrated with all his might, focusing chakra through his body, down to his hands. Both his hands. He opened his eyes suddenly as the chakra left his hands in a violent stream, flowing out and down, lighting up the dark chasm a blood drenched red. Naruto blanched when he realized there was only 30 feet left till they hit bottom. "We're not gonna make it!" He thought dismally just as his body hit the wall of soft but hot energy he had sent down moments before. He fell through his mountain of chakra and face planted with a loud "UFF!" Wind knocked out of him, he could only lie there for a few minutes while he coaxed his lungs to expand once more and listened frantically for a sign that Sakura and Mizuki had survived just as he had.

"Naruto!" He heard Sakura's voice approaching him and he smiled, not caring about the dust that flew into his mouth when he did. He felt a tentative hand on his left shoulder turn harder as the hand increased pressure and flipped him over onto his back. No longer lying on his lungs, he was able to breathe more freely and his eyes focused. Mizuki was leaning over him carefully. He could see no dirt on her face, just ceaseless tears of fear, pain and joy at seeing he was alright. He felt Sakura kneel down to his right. He blinked and turned his head and when he did, he realized he could see her quite clearly. The sun was shining brightly into the canyon once more. Itachi's dark chakra bomb was gone.

Only 15 minutes before:

Sasuke heard Naruto sprint off with the girls. He felt at the same time relieved that they would survive and nervous to be letting the only person who knew anything about this deadly jutsu out of his sight. Naruto had said there would be a split second with which to attack. Normally that wouldn't have been an issue. Between his Sharingan and Neji's Byakugan they should have been able to see the build up of energy and time their attack perfectly. But Sasuke didn't need Neji to tell him that, wherever the energy to create this bomb came from, it wasn't visible to any bloodline limit he knew of. As far as any of the desperate team's eyes were concerned, the monster standing before them had no chakra network, no flow, no way of telling what the hell was going on.

"Sasuke" Kakashi's incredulous voice sounded beside him and he had a moment to remember that Kakashi had a Sharingan of his own.

"I know!" Sasuke yelled back. This was impossible! Their one chance could come at any second and they wouldn't know it until it passed! He thought frantically. "Shikamaru!" He yelled to the unseen ninja to his right. "Try binding him with your shadow stitch!"

"Around that stuff? If you haven't noticed that black stuff is making it kind of hard to cast any shadow around here!" Shikamaru yelled back.

"Use this!" Neji yelled and threw a flash bomb to his friend. Shikamaru caught it and threw it right towards Itachi. It went off right in front of him with magnificent intensity, not injuring him in the slightest but creating enough light that Shikamaru was able to send the most powerful shadow he could muster at Itachi. He honestly didn't think it would do anything as he sent it racing so he almost missed the moment when he felt the shadow hit its target. He focused and latched on tight, not sure if it would make a difference but sure as hell not letting go.

Sasuke saw the shadow hit Itachi but nothing changed. Itachi didn't even flinch, he just stood there, eyes closed, calling all the energy he could to gather around him. The wall of black that surrounded his brother grew larger with every moment. Any moment he would release it and his home, his friends, and the woman he loved would be blasted to nothing. What could he do to stop it?

Just as he and no doubted his friends were thinking these desperate thoughts, Itachi's eyes suddenly opened so wide one would think his eyeballs would fall out. Sasuke jerked forward, thinking this was the moment but Itachi wasn't looking at him. He turned his gaze to follow Itachi's and it landed on a second black mass to his left, growing larger and larger as it siphoned off power from the original! Sasuke had to blink several times to process what he was seeing. Tsunade was standing not ten feet away from the group, black power swirling around her, staring Itachi straight in the eyes with a look Sasuke was suddenly glad wasn't directed at him! As her power grew, he could see Itachi's lessening!

Kakashi was frozen dumb by the sudden interruption. Was this going to be another example of the Hokage giving their life to save the village? Naruto had said there was no way to survive this jutsu, even for the caster!

Tsunade must have seen the look on Kakashi's face. She gritted her teeth and yelled, "All of you, away now! Except for Shikamaru. You move to the right but don't you dare let go! I'm going to send this power towards the cliffs for the least damage. The moment I do, close in and finish this bastard for God's sake! Are you really Konoha ninja's or what?" Sasuke found himself on the receiving end of the look he had dreaded earlier and was reminded again why this person was the Hokage. He jumped up and over Itachi with everyone but the cursing Shikamaru who inched his way to his right.

Itachi glared at Tsunade in supreme shock. He had discovered this jutsu from going through Orochimaru's hidden research. How could she have known?

As if reading his mind, Tsunade replied, "Have you forgotten that I grew up with that bastard Orochimaru? And that I was there when his lab was raided? All the secrets you know, I know Itachi. Only don't forget. With age comes wisdom...and more power that you'll ever know!" As she said this last, she extended her right arm out at her side and with a scream of exertion, forced all the energy building up around her through her arm and out her fingertips. The deadly wall of black energy raced from Itachi to her, from her through the quickly annihilated forest, towards the eastern cliffs.

After what felt like an eternity but in reality was only mere seconds, the black energy disappeared. Tsunade collapsed to the ground, exhausted, her visage of youth and beauty eroded by her lack of power. She looked every bit the old woman she really was, but she was alive. So was Itachi, but as Sasuke and the others closed around him, he realized that even if they did nothing, his brother would not last for more than a few minutes. Itachi had collapsed to the ground, his breathing shallow and strained. Shikamaru remained vigilant however, not willing to be surprised by Itachi again. Sasuke knelt beside his brother, feeling better for Shikamaru's shadow stitch even as he realized it was no longer necessary. Itachi wasn't going anywhere fast. He turned his dead eyes to Sasuke's and smiled.

"Well you've done it little brother." His voice rattled in between anguished breaths. "Or rather 'you' haven't done anything have you? You left all the hard work to your girlfriend and your old bag of a Hokage, though I must say, even I didn't see that coming." He coughed as he chuckled and a thin stream of blood ran down his chin.

Sasuke just stared. Itachi's words should have incensed him into cutting his head off right then and there. But seeing his brother in his final pathetic moments, all avenues of life lost to him, Sasuke merely felt pity. And he would not give his brother the satisfaction of a quick and honourable death. He would die in agony as he had made others live.

"Um quick question please." Shikamaru spoke suddenly, causing everyone to jump slightly.

"You can let go now Shikamaru. He's not going anywhere." Kakashi said quietly, standing behind Sasuke.

"Uh not what I was going to ask. Has anyone realized that where Tsunade-sama sent all that deadly energy is the direction Naruto ran off in with the girls?" The question had been innocent enough but the maelstrom it caused made Shikamaru wish he'd said nothing at all.

Sasuke felt his blood run cold as he looked back to where Tsunade was resting on the ground, her eyes wide open, reflecting his horror right back at him. Sasuke jumped to his feet and was instantly behind Gaara who had taken off running just a moment before. They hadn't run 50 yards when they stopped dead at the sight of three figures stumbling towards them. His sense of relief was such that he could barely keep his feet. Even the ever stoic Gaara couldn't keep grin from his face, especially when Naruto saw them alive and waved so enthusiastically that he almost hit Mizuki with his bandaged hand. She shoved his hand out of her face and swiped him on the side of the head for good measure. The three burst out laughing and when they reached the anxious Sasuke and Gaara, Mizuki held up her hands in front of her and said "The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Sasuke would have found time to laugh at her antics but he was just too relieved to see she and his friends had survived. He wiped his face with his hands as Mizuki gave Gaara a bone crushing hug. They were alive. Itachi was dying, soon to be a threat never again, and they had all survived. He didn't know what God to thank but he was sure whoever was responsible for this amazing fate, they knew how grateful he was. Even more so when Mizuki came to him, her arms outstretched. He went to those arms almost hungrily. He heard her apologetic whispers in his ears and hugged her to him all the tighter in response. He was all too conscious, even in his ecstatic stupor that no matter how tightly he held her, it wasn't enough. He could feel it from her as well, the tighter she held him. It was as though they couldn't be close enough to each other. Once everything had been dealt with, he aimed to fix that problem.

The five friends walked slowly back to the rest of the group, accommodating the injured. Several anbu had revealed themselves and were tending to Tsunade and guarding Itachi like a pack of wolves. Sakura grabbed Naruto and went to help heal Tsunade, as well as apologize for leaving without permission. As Sasuke approached with Mizuki on his arm he heard Kakashi talking to Itachi. "He's still alive? Why? We were gone for more than ten minutes!" Sasuke thought sombrely. He had hoped to spare Mizuki any more of Itachi's disgusting words.

"Give in Itachi." Kakashi prodded. "It's over. Die and have some peace." Kakashi had been confused as to why Itachi insisted on clinging to life when it had pretty much ended more than fifteen minutes before. He heard Sasuke and Mizuki's voices coming up behind him. Itachi's sightless eyes which had been staring straight up into the sky suddenly blinked and moved to where Sasuke had left Mizuki with Gaara and was now once again kneeling beside him.

Sasuke couldn't say he felt sorry for the pain his brother was obviously in. Every breath was hitched and hollow. Every few minutes his body would shake uncontrollably as Itachi fought to keep from yelling out the pain of fighting his body into a few more minutes of life. Through the pain and ragged breathing Sasuke could tell Itachi was trying to say something. Looking behind him once to make sure Mizuki would not be in ear shot, he leaned in to his brother's face.

"Little brother." Itachi wheezed and coughed. "You think you've won...but I won't let it end like this. I will take everything from you with me to hell where I will be waiting for you." He sneered.

"Yeah save us a seat you rat bastard, I'll bring the marshmallows." Mizuki shot out from behind Sasuke. Sasuke grimaced at her. He hadn't wanted her to hear any of that. Mizuki ignored his look. "You're done for! Let it go for crying out loud! What have you got to gain by hanging about in terrible pain!"

Itachi actually grinned and Sasuke saw none of the evil had left his brother, even in his last moments. "Oh but I had to wait for you to come back. You see I have a present for you _Mizuki-chan. _Think of it as something to remember me by." He wheezed and coughed and more blood ran down his chin but he ignored it." The one thing you need that will make you complete once more. Your name."

"My name?" Mizuki moved closer in spite of herself. It was the one thing about this whole experience she had felt unable to deal with. Her real name. The one he had taken from her when he had planted false memories and stolen what, in effect, made her human.

Sasuke couldn't believe Itachi was going to do something good in his last moments of life and the look on his face confirmed it. A niggling panic started in the back of Sasuke's mind as Mizuki knelt down beside him, beside Itachi.

"Mizuki..." Sasuke started but Mizuki spoke over him.

"What is my name Itachi?" Mizuki all but yelled. "What is it? Tell me now!"

"No Mizuki!" Sasuke yelled. His right arm seemed to move of its own volition towards Mizuki to push her away but he was too late.

"Sayuri..." Itachi muttered and with one final malevolent grin, he died.

"Sayuri." The girl known as Mizuki seemed to roll the name in her mouth, checking to see if it fit. As she completed the last syllable however, her eyes opened impossibly wide and she grabbed her head in what seemed to be intense pain!

"No! No! It can't...No! Stop!" She flung backwards onto the ground, rolled up into a fetal position, clutching her head as though trying to keep it from exploding.

Sasuke leapt towards her, he tried to help her but she screamed when he touched her. He rolled back on his feet, looking utterly terrified and helpless. "What's going on?" He yelled to the others. "What do I do?" Sakura rushed forward and started to apply healing techniques hoping to stop the obvious pain she was in.

Kakashi turned to Neji. "Neji, use your Byakugan, see if you can find out what's happening to her." Neji looked at Kakashi but obliged.

"This can't be!" He said shocked as his eyes roved over her prone body. "Her chakra network...it's back! I mean it's there like it's supposed to be now! It's like it's growing down and out from her head!"

"What? What the hell is going on?" Sasuke looked to Kakashi who looked an awful lot like he had figured it out but said nothing.

All at once the screaming stopped. Sasuke whipped back towards where Sakura was pouring healing chakra into Mizuki. Mizuki's body had relaxed but she had fallen unconscious.

"It's slowing." Neji said. "It was like a burst of energy but it's slowed. In fact she looks completely normal now from what I can tell."

"Alright that's enough!" Tsunade's voice barked from behind the group. "Everyone here to the hospital on the double to be checked out. The anbu will take care of Itachi's corpse. I'll let you decide what is done with the body Sasuke." She looked at him sympathetically as he stood up with Mizuki in his arms. He nodded numbly and leapt off towards Konoha with his friends close behind.

XXX

Sasuke stood alone in front of the pyre that held the burning corpse of his older brother. It had been three days since the battle that had finally ended Itachi's reign of terror in his life. Naruto and Sakura had wanted to be with him but he had insisted on doing this alone. Truth be told he barely registered the fact that the last person in his family was burning to ashes before him. He mind was full of pain and grief but it had little to nothing to do with the sight before him.

She remembered nothing. She had forgotten him.

His eyes squinted shut as the thoughts pressed their way into his mind once more. Mizuki had woken in the hospital not an hour after they had all returned. He had sat by her bedside, ignoring the other medic's entreaties that he be looked at for injuries. Tsunade had come in, her energy levels returned to the point where she could put on her facade of youth once more. She had survived channelling the black energy, despite Naruto's claim that the caster could not. She claimed it was because "that dumb ass Jiraiya wasn't always as good an information gatherer as he thought he was." She smiled at Sasuke reassuringly and was checking some readings when they heard the faintest whimper from the bed. Sasuke stood up immediately and stood over the bed, Tsunade moving to the other side. Mizuki's eyes had opened with a few blinks as she looked from Sasuke to Tsunade. Both wore relieved and reassuring smiles. But Mizuki did not smile back. Sasuke's smile faltered a little bit as she looked at him again with, he realized, an expression of what could only be fear.

"Mizuki?" He ventured cautiously, suddenly sure of what her response would be. Her voice was scratchy but clear and equal parts annoyed and frightened.

"Who?"

Gaara came up so quietly behind the thought immersed Sasuke that when he finally noticed he wasn't alone, he jumped and shot Gaara a rather annoyed look. Gaara ignored it and stood beside him, seeming to study the burning pyre.

"I'm sure you've figured this out but Tsunade has determined that giving Miz... I mean 'Sayuri' back her name completed and released the jutsu Itachi had used to steal her chakra. Releasing this jutsu reverted her mind and body back to a point in time before Itachi had appeared in her life and placed her under the Tsukuyomi. She doesn't recall any of the moves or techniques Itachi had forced into her that day either. How this strange jutsu made her eyes suitable for him to use we still don't know. We'll probably never know. It no longer matters."

"It was his final stab." Sasuke muttered, surprising himself with how bitter he sounded. He could feel all the progress his heart had made the last several days unravelling. "It was his insurance. If he couldn't defeat me and take her eyes then like hell he was going to die peacefully and let us be happy." Sasuke had been unable to see Mizuki after she had woken up and declared that not only did she not love him, she didn't even know who he was. To look in her blank eyes that had once held so much love for him had been too painful. So he had left her to the care of the others, relying on them to keep him informed.

"I have explained to her all that happened. Itachi and the jutsu, though I left the part of what she specifically saw out, her time here, the friendships she made and how she played an integral part in Itachi's downfall." Gaara sighed, looking weary. "She looked at me like I was telling an interesting story, one she'd never heard before."

Sasuke could hear the pain in Gaara's voice. Wrapped up in his own despair, he had forgotten that he wasn't the only one who had come to truly care for the strange girl who had been dumped in their laps, only to change their lives, and was now going to leave them forever. He understood how Gaara felt and, in sharing that, his pain seemed to become the slightest bit easier.

"She's almost back to perfect health." Gaara continued. "Naruto, in all his overbearing cheer, has made friends with her quickly once again." Sasuke hid a smile at that. "He has all but convinced her to stay here in Konoha and start a new life."

Sasuke didn't know what to say to that.

"She said she would have to think about it. And she said she wanted to speak to you first."

"Me?" Sasuke said honestly surprised. "Why me? She made it very clear she doesn't know who I am."

"Perhaps not the way she used to but I've told her as much about you as I have everyone else."

"So she thinks I'm a jerk then?" The retort burst out before Sasuke could stop it. He was only mildly sorry he'd said it.

Gaara hid a small smile. "Even if I had done nothing but bash you to her the last few days, Naruto, Sakura and everyone else have been extolling your virtues to the point where anything bad I could have said would be meaningless anyway."

Sasuke smiled wanly at Gaara. A silent understanding passed between them and they felt no need to say anything more as they stood and watched the last remnants of Itachi burn.

"Um, excuse me." A voice sounded quietly behind them. Gaara turned immediately and smiled but Sasuke had to steel himself before turning to look at her. Mizuki stood before them, looking as nervous as she did the first day he met her. Her hair was down, just barely touching her shoulders and was wearing the blue dress she had worn when she and Naruto had gone on their "date". Sasuke felt familiar stirrings in his heart and had to look away.

"I will excuse myself. I must prepare for the return journey to the Wind Country. I will speak with you before I leave." He nodded at them both and walked away.

Sasuke felt her step up beside him. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye but she was staring at the fire that slowly but continuously ate Itachi's remains.

"That's him isn't it?" She said quietly but with force in her voice. "The one who started all this. The one who tried to kill me and who took my memories away."

"It is." Sasuke replied simply. He just didn't know what else to say. Having her so close yet treating him like a stranger was unbearable.

She was quiet for several moments and Sasuke was about to excuse himself, unable to stand being so near her anymore when she spoke again.

"Your name is...Sasuke...is that right?" She asked quietly but in the same strong voice.

"And you are Sayuri." Sasuke said, the name feeling strangely inappropriate.

"Yes, although Gaara has told me that my name for the last several days has been Mizuki. He told me quite a story actually. Insane ninja putting me under a spell, trying to take my eyes and kill me, meeting all of you and becoming friends. Especially you. He said you and I were...pretty close. And then meeting in some climactic battle where he was finally killed but I lost all the memories I'd gained over the last several days. Under normal circumstances I would never have believed it."

"Are you saying you do believe it?" Sasuke did look at her then.

"Don't see that I have much choice." She shrugged. "It makes sense actually, it explains some things that I've been feeling." She looked at Sasuke seriously. "I have no idea who you are, despite everything that Gaara and the others have told me. Nothing of what they've said happened strikes as even remotely familiar."

Sasuke wanted to look away but couldn't. Her words were like the last knife twisting in his already broken heart. The urge to run away from her and never look back had never been stronger.

"But it's funny," she continued, not noticing his uneasiness. "Whenever I've thought about you and even more so that I'm standing here now, well, it's stupid really but...I keep getting an image in my head. It just sort of pops in there." She looked away suddenly as though she was embarrassed.

"What is it you see?" Sasuke prodded, not daring to hope.

"Well like I said it's stupid but I get an image of a full moon, surrounded by a ring of fire. It makes absolutely no sense to you does it?"

Sasuke felt himself smile. He saw her relax and smile back at him. Ever so slightly, the weight on his chest seemed to lessen. "Actually, it makes more sense than you'd think." He took one last look at Itachi's funeral pyre and turned away from it. "What say we go have a tea and argue about it?" He said this last expecting her to be shocked at his choice of words but to his happy surprise she considered his words for a moment and then nodded her head, her smile widening.

"Sounds good to me...but you're buying." And with that she walked off ahead of him, up to a bridge that crossed back to the village main. She turned around and gave him an impatient look to follow. He couldn't stop the grin from splitting his face and he didn't want to. He ran up beside her and they settled into a slow walk towards the tea shop. As they walked they talked, rather comfortably despite the several sarcastic comments that were tossed back and forth. In spite of every fibre of his being, his cool and detached exterior, his sarcastic and standoffish attitude, his certainty that his heart was made of solid stone that could never be penetrated, Sasuke had fallen head over heels for this girl. And though she may not remember him or their love from before, her heart obviously hadn't forgotten completely and, he told himself, this was a chance to do things over properly from the start. He wouldn't be so callous this time, he wouldn't fight or try to ignore the feelings in his heart. He could be different, they could be different. Even if she did have a different name. He stopped in the middle of the street causing her to look back suddenly, her long loose hair whipping in her face.

"I'm sorry are you having trouble keeping up with the hospital patient?" She smiled cheekily.

Sasuke smiled back just as cheekily. "Not a chance. But you know, whatever may or may not happen between us from this point on I've realized something. I'm never going to get used to calling you Sayuri."


End file.
